


To the Stars

by sakabelle



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Forbidden Love, M/M, RMS Titanic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-20
Updated: 2014-07-20
Packaged: 2018-02-09 16:37:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 25,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1990032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sakabelle/pseuds/sakabelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The last place Niall Horan wanted to be was a first class passenger on the Titanic, headed to America. His father was forcing him into a life he didn’t want, full of business meetings and ritzy parties. Simply put, he was miserable.</p>
<p>Until he met Harry Styles. A passenger in steerage who would turn his entire life upside down.</p>
<p>  <i>A Titanic movie AU.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	To the Stars

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this as a part of the reel_1D movie AU ficathon.
> 
> I have to give major thanks to my beta readers - [confusedlybeautiful](http://confusedlybeautiful.tumblr.com/) and [snapbackandsweaters](http://snapbackandsweaters.tumblr.com/). They were both so helpful with reading the story over, helping me with descriptions and characterization and just the overall plot. This story wouldn't be what it is without their help, that's for sure!!

**April 11, 1912**

The atmosphere at Queenstown port was like nothing eighteen year old Niall Horan had ever seen before. There were people everywhere. Niall leaned his head against the car window, not caring that he was likely messing up his perfectly slicked back brown hair. As he looked at all of the people scurrying about, he estimated that only half of them were to be actual passengers on the ship. The rest were just there to witness what was apparently a monumental moment in history.

“The ship of dreams,” his father had told him when he bought the tickets. “It will take us to America where we can start fresh and pave the way for you to take over the business.”

Niall didn’t think moving to America simply to continue learning how to take over the family stock trading business counted as “starting fresh,” but what did he know? 

“We’re here sir, can I take your coat before you board the ship?” their helper, Liam asked him.

Niall shrugged him off, shaking his head. He rubbed his hands together and stuck them in his pockets. For April it was unseasonably cold and he was quite fine with keeping his coat on until he reached his stayroom.

“Hand him your coat, Niall,” his father, Bobby instructed him. “I won’t have your new suit bundled up under there. We’re going to board the ship as gentlemen.”

Niall sighed as he slid his coat off of his shoulders, handing it to Liam. He knew better than to protest - especially right before a week long trip trapped on a boat.

“Look at that, m’boy,” Bobby said, draping his arm around Niall’s shoulders and looking upwards at the ocean liner in front of them. “Titanic.”

Niall had to fight every urge to roll his eyes. Here we go again, he thought miserably. Outwardly, of course, he kept the smile plastered on his face.

“The ship of dreams, they call it.”

_I know._ “Really?”

“It’s bigger than the Mauritanian, they say.”

_I don’t bloody care._ “That’s incredible!”

“And you and I will be two of the most wealthy people aboard the ship.”

_Why does that matter?_ “We’re two of the most wealthy people most places, aren’t we? Ha!”

“America won’t know what hit them,” Bobby grinned, patting his son firmly on the back and following Liam as they walked towards the ramps to board.

Niall gulped as he looked upwards one last time. The ship was huge, but he couldn’t have felt more like he was about to enter a prison cell.

* * *

Harry Styles leaned against the railing of the ship, looking down at all of the passengers below. There were significantly less than he remembered from when he’d boarded at Southampton, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t a massive crowd of people.

“Look at them,” Louis, a friend he’d met on the ship a day ago commented. He ran a hand through his greasy hair as he stood beside Harry. “Bloody rich folk. Walking onto the ship like they own it.”

“Hmmm,” was all Harry said as he glanced around. 

It was true, most of the people who were boarding appeared to be very well-to-do. Unlike he and Louis, who held third class tickets that included such luxuries such as two communal bathrooms for all of the passengers of that level. But Harry didn’t really care about that - at least not to the point that Louis apparently did. He was content to just people watch.

“I’ll be glad when we’re done with all this docking business,” Louis sighed, stretching out his arms and turning around so his back was against the railing. “Back out at sea. Back on our way to America. What do you plan to do in America, then?”

Harry shrugged, still looking at the sea of people down below. “Sing,” he said simply. 

Louis snorted. “Right, good plan then,” he said sarcastically. 

Harry wasn’t listening to him and he didn’t particularly care about Louis’s opinions. He kept his eyes fixated on the passengers boarding the ship. One passenger in particular, actually. A boy who was boarding with what looked to be his father, and another boy trailing behind them (who was probably their servant). The boy stopped on the ramp and was facing upwards at the ship. But his gaze wasn’t filled with pride or wonder like all of the other passengers.

Harry couldn’t really figure out what look was on his face. Was it fear? He didn’t look scared. It looked more like discomfort or dissatisfaction. Sadness, he finally settled on, when he got a better look at the boy’s face.

It intrigued him and he wondered why he looked that way. It could have been a number of reasons, a few of which bounced around Harry’s head. That was the joy of people watching.

“Hello?” Louis said, cutting into Harry’s thoughts. He leaned dramatically over the railing, shoving himself in front of Harry’s line of sight. “How can you possibly find them interesting?”

Harry shrugged. He kept watching the boy as he looked back down and then straight in front of him as he disappeared onto the ship, presumably heading to his first class quarters.

Louis was somewhat right he supposed, because after the boy was gone the rest of the crowd wasn’t entirely as intriguing. The rest of them looked as expected. Proud, pompous, patrician.

“I suppose they’re not,” Harry muttered.

“Of course they’re not,” Louis laughed. “That’s the whole point of being rich.”

Harry laughed, slinging his arm around Louis. “Let’s go find some food, yeah?”

Louis grinned. “I like the way you think.”

* * *

There were patterns on the china plate sitting in front of Niall. They were fairly intricate patterns on the white plate, triangle flags with _RMS Titanic_ stamped in the middle.

He absently studied his wine glass, half filled with red wine that was sure to dry his mouth out as he choked it down. What he wouldn’t give for a pint.

“Niall,” Bobby’s voice cut into his thoughts and he looked up to see his father almost glaring at him, nodding towards the server at his side.

“Caviar?” he asked. Niall’s stomach turned, but he nodded all the same as what could only be described as black sludge was scooped onto his plate. He peered down at it, trying not to make a face.

“As I was saying,” Bobby continued, eyeing his son. Niall looked up at him and actually made an effort to listen this time, instead of zoning out into his own little world. He took the small spoon beside his plate and forced a bite of the awful mess on his plate into his mouth. “Niall is an absolute wonder with the stocks, has an eye for them.”

“He takes after his father then, surely,” another man, whose name Niall hadn’t caught laughed.

“M’father’s the best there is,” Niall said with an automatic smile, gulping down a sip of wine. It was only marginally better than the awfulness sitting on his tastebuds. “So I don’t know about that.”

“And modest, too!” the man laughed, patting Bobby on the back. 

Niall had to strain not to roll his eyes. Instead he reached up to run a hand through his hair, which he always did when he was nervous or agitated. It was a difficult task, given his hair was matted down with product and still awfully parted.

His dad gave him a look, and Niall kept his arms at his sides as the first course was served. Thankfully his plate full of caviar was taken from him before he had a chance to force any more of it down.

The first course looked better - oysters, it looked to be on a bed of tomatoes. Niall watched everyone else at the table, waiting for all of them to receive their food before starting to eat himself.

He ate fast, of course. He always did because the portions were so bloody small. Plus, the more he shoved food into his mouth the less he had to participate in the completely asinine conversation.

Until his plate was clear.

“How old are you then?” another man asked him. Niall thought he’d been introduced to him as John Astor earlier, but he wasn’t entirely sure. He really had to start listening to his father’s babble if he was to spend a week on the ship with these apparent newfound friends.

“Eighteen,” he said, sipping at his wine again. He briefly wondered how much he would be judged if he asked for a beer.

The man (John, was it?) nodded. “Eighteen,” he said, looking at Bobby and then back at Niall. “Any prospects on a wife?”

Niall shifted uncomfortably and tried to laugh it off. He’d never really thought about it to be perfectly honest. His father hadn’t ever remarried ever since his mother had passed away, so he figured he’d just follow in those footsteps.

Plus, women hadn’t ever overly interested him. Not the way that the lads had talked about them in school, anyway. He’d never had a girlfriend, in fact he’d never so much as kissed a girl and he’d been perfectly alright with that. 

“Loads of women,” Bobby laughed, patting his son on the back. “He’s got his pick of them, that’s for sure.”

“Well you don’t want to settle too early,” the man advised him, holding up his wine glass as though he was giving some sage advice. Niall tried his best not to raise his eyebrow like what he was being told was ridiculous. “You’re young,” he laughed, looking at Bobby. “Play the field, as they say.”

Bobby and the rest of the table of middle aged men roared with laughter, as though this was the best thing they’d ever heard.

Niall choked down another sip of his wine as the next course was served. This was what it was like when he was with his father and people his father felt were worthy of their company. Niall wondered if this was what it was going to be like in America. At least when he’d been at home he had some friends. He knew the area and he could go off on his own.

Bobby had made no bones about the fact that they were going to be doing some serious work once they got to New York. That taking their business to America was a huge step, and that it was imperative that they work as hard as they could.

Four courses later and what Niall felt like were hundreds of rounds of laughter from the men, dinner was complete.

That didn’t mean the evening was over. Far from it - that just meant that they retreated off to the smoking room to once again laugh over cigars and brandy.

The very thought of it gave Niall a headache from preemptive boredom. “Uh,” he said, shuffling out of his seat at their table got up and proceeded to move to the other room.

Bobby looked back at him. Niall wasn’t really sure what he was going to say to get out of it. “I’m uh...” he glanced around, his eyes falling on a group of girls who looked to be about his age leaving the dining area.

“Ah, gonna go chat up the ladies, then?” Bobby asked him with a grin. “That’s my boy, no reason to sit around with us when you could be taking advantage of our time on the ship,” he winked.

Niall nodded, plastering a grin on his face. That was absolutely not what he intended to do, but if it got him out of spending hours with a group of old men he’d take it.

“Thank you,” he said, nodding his head as he rushed off. 

He looked back to make sure his father wasn’t looking - and indeed he wasn’t. He was too busy talking shop with one of the other men to be bothered with keeping watch on his son. 

Niall rushed out of the dining area and up to the deck of the ship. He cupped his hands over his mouth, breathing a deep, warm breath onto them before shoving them into his pockets. Christ, it was cold.

The boat deck bored him after a few minutes. The stars were pretty, he supposed. But they weren’t all that entertaining. Plus, he could see his breath. He went back inside and went down a few flights of stairs, interested in what was going on in other parts of the ship that he’d never be able to explore when Bobby was with him.

He walked and walked, looking at the architecture and the clean white paint on the walls. He supposed it actually was marvelous - it was all brand new. He kept walking, smiling to himself as he thought about how he was one of the first people to ever walk these halls.

A couple ran past him, giggling to each other and smiling like they hadn’t a care in the world. Niall smiled too - he’d obviously reached the third class area. People seemed a lot less worried about social graces down there, which he was thankful for. No more of that caviar bullshit. Perhaps he’d even be able to find a pint.

He walked down another flight of stairs and then another until he heard it. It was faint, and he had to stop and really listen, but was that... bagpipes?

They had a fairly unmistakable and distinct sound which got louder as Niall made his way down the hall. Soon the sound of drums joined it along with laughter. Real laughter sprung from enjoyment and life, not just business suit bullshit that he was so used to.

And singing. A deep and powerful voice wafted through the halls, getting louder and louder until Niall could pinpoint exactly where it was coming from. There was an open door with a small flight of stairs leading downwards.

And when Niall peered in, he grinned to himself. It wasn’t long before he was walking down the steps, glancing around the area and taking all of the scenery in.

People were dancing on the hardwood floor, there was a band playing what Niall instantly recognized as Irish folk music.

And the singer. His voice was ten times more powerful now that Niall was standing in the same room as him. 

His mouth was wide with a grin as he belted out the words to the song. “ _And it's all for me grog, me jolly jolly grog. All for me beer and tobacco,_ ” he laughed a little bit, running a hand through his thick, curly brown hair before linking his hands behind his back again. “ _For I spent all me tin on lassies drinkin' gin. Across the Western ocean I must wander..._ ”

Harry felt eyes on him as he sang. He glanced around the crowd. Not many people were paying him attention - everyone was either dancing or sitting at their own tables having a loud pint.

Except for one boy standing off to the side. He was leaning against the wall wearing a bright smile on his face. He was also wearing perfectly pressed black pants, a perfectly pressed white shirt and an open black suit jacket. His brown hair was slicked down against his head and...

Harry’s breath almost caught in his throat. This was the boy he’d seen boarding the ship earlier in the day. At least this time he looked quite a bit happier - whatever reason for his look of discomfort earlier in the day must have vanished.

He kept singing, trying not to look over to the boy too much. But now he was just eager for the song to be over so he could rush over to him and say hello. So he could ask him why he would possibly be down there when he looked so dapper.

“Thank you!” Harry said with a grin as he looked out into the room.

There were a few scattered claps, but he wasn’t paid much attention as the band started up again. This time, he let them play without supplying any words. He hurried off the small stage and walked over to the boy. 

“What’s a proper lad like you doing down in our parts?” he asked, the grin still wide on his face.

Niall shrugged. He didn’t know, really. He’d just been wandering around and heard it. “Good music, good dancing,” he laughed, pointing over to the people on the floor. “I’m Niall, by the way,” he said, extending his hand.

Harry laughed at how proper the boy was. But he took his hand and shook it firmly all the same. “Harry,” he introduced himself.

“Well Harry,” Niall grinned, leaning in and winking at him a little bit. God, this boy’s green eyes were gorgeous. Niall was sure they were actually shining - like singing energized him. Or maybe he was just like that all the time. That seemed like such a wonderful yet unattainable concept to him. “Got any pints around here?”

Harry laughed, slinging his arm around Niall and leading him over to a small bar area. “Yeah, yeah,” he said, holding up two fingers for the bartender to serve them. 

Niall looked almost grateful as the man filled two glasses with foamy amber liquid and slid them over to him and Harry. Niall picked his up right away - he was about to bring it to his lips when he noticed Harry holding his out.

“Cheers?” he asked with a smirk.

Niall nodded, allowing himself to chuckle a bit. “Cheers,” he nodded his head, keeping eye contact with Harry as he chugged down half of the beer in one go.

“Wow,” Harry said, looking at him with wonder. “Impressive.”

Niall just laughed again, wiggling his eyebrows as he brought the glass back to his lips and downed the rest of the pint. He slammed the glass down on the countertop, still grinning and feeling just a little bit dizzy on account of the alcohol.

“What, you think that since I’m wearing a collared shirt and trousers that I can’t drink?” he quipped, giving Harry a wink as the wide grin stayed plastered on his face. “I’m Irish, you know. This is what we do.” 

“Oh?” Harry asked, taking another sip of his own pint before setting the rest of it down on the counter beside Niall’s empty glass. “Well then, let’s see what you’re made of, Irish,” he smiled, taking hold of Niall’s arm and pulling him into the area where everyone was dancing. “Sounds a good bit like Irish music to me.”

Harry placed his hands on his hips and swung out his feet, feebly attempting some sort of Irish jig to go along with the upbeat music that filled the room. 

Niall watched him, his eyebrow crooked with amusement. Harry was certainly a much better singer than he was a dancer - especially when it came to this type of dancing. He was a right mess, obviously not knowing what we was doing.

“Right,” Niall laughed, keeping the same smug look on his face as he placed his hands on his own hips. “I think what you meant to do was _this_.”

Harry watched as Niall expertly moved his feet to the beat of the music. It couldn’t have been easy, given they were covered in restrictive dress shoes. He bent his legs perfectly keeping in perfect time to the drums that seemed to get louder and louder.

There was a small circle of people crowding around them now, keen on watching Niall. They were clapping along in unison, filling the room with laughter and joy.

“Yeah?” Niall laughed, ignoring the rest of the crowd around him. He looked up at Harry and laughed a little bit. Harry just nodded his head as he kept watching Niall. His eyes were wide as he kept them on Niall’s feet.

Niall’s feet that gave way to the horrible shoes, their smooth soles slipping against the wooden floor. He would’ve gone down, but Harry was able to move quickly. He wrapped his arm around the shorter boy’s waist, saving him from falling flat on his arse.

He giggled a bit, looking straight into Niall’s blue eyes. He had no idea where this boy had come from (well, aside from Ireland, obviously) but he was almost certain he was an angel. Because he’d never seen anyone look so positively pleased with themselves even after falling over with a dozen people watching him.

Niall blushed a bit of course, but he couldn’t stop smiling. This was the most fun he’d had ever since he’d boarded the ship. Hell, this was the most fun he’d had in weeks since he’d been burdened with helping his father out with paperwork. And he’d only been down at these parts for all of fifteen minutes.

“Another pint?” Harry asked. He pulled away from Niall, letting him regain his balance.

“Ah,” Niall said, glancing around. The thought of all of the paperwork he’d done made him worry slightly about his father and his whereabouts. Then again, if Bobby thought Niall was with a girl, it wasn’t likely he’d come knocking on his stayroom door to check up on him.

Plus, his father was probably still only on his first cigar. So there was time for another pint. 

“Yeah, alright,” he finally gave in, following Harry back over to the counter. He stole a look at Harry’s curly brown hair. Niall almost wanted to reach out and touch it, it looked so soft. It was a far cry from the matted down mess atop his own head.

“Cheers,” Harry grinned, handing Niall a pint and taking a fresh one for himself. They clinked their glasses together. Niall drank his quickly - he always did when pints were involved because his time in the pub was often limited. He watched as Harry did too, clearly making an effort to keep up with Niall.

“Where’d you board, then?” Niall asked, clutching his half-full glass with his hand as he looked up at Harry.

“Southampton,” Harry shrugged. “Yesterday, I suppose. Feels like longer!” he laughed. 

“I’ll say,” Niall muttered, looking down into his pint before bringing it back up to his lips. And he’d been on the ship for less time than Harry.

Harry furrowed his eyebrows as the distant look on Niall’s face from earlier in the day returned for the briefest moment. That is, until Niall made eye contact with him again and smiled.

“You boarded in Ireland, then?” Harry asked, making conversation more than anything. He didn’t want to pry into whatever Niall’s issues were, but if the boy brought them up himself...

“Yeah,” Niall nodded. “Queenstown. Took the train from Mullingar,” he shrugged, taking the final sip left in his pint glass. He’d hardly even thought about how much he was going to miss living in his small hometown.

“Can’t say I’ve heard of that, to be honest,” Harry laughed a bit. He still had a considerable amount of beer left in his glass, failing to keep up with Niall’s drinking skills. 

Niall shrugged. “It’s small. Five thousand people, maybe.”

“Must be exciting to go to America, then,” Harry grinned. He wasn’t even pressing for information at this point - he just knew that he was excited to get to America and see what New York specifically was all about.

Niall bit his lip. He supposed America could be exciting, but he was well aware that for him it was going to be more of the same. With the added responsibility of becoming his father’s right hand man in a business that he really didn’t care about. The days of hanging out in the pub were probably long over now. 

“Yeh,” was all he said, because he wasn’t about to spill his life story to this boy he hardly even knew. He probably wouldn’t understand anyway, given he was standing here dressed in clothes that probably hadn’t been washed in ages and likely had never been pressed. 

But hell, he looked a lot happier than Niall felt.

Harry studied him for a moment before finally giving into his curiosity. “Don’t sound too excited,” he pointed out.

Niall looked up at him, studying his face and waiting for the judgement to show through. It didn’t - Harry just stood there, watching him with a look of concern. 

He sighed, deciding to just spill it. This probably would be his only chance to do so anyway, because wasn’t like he’d be able to talk to his father about anything real. Anything real that didn’t concern how colossally successful their business was going to be, anyway.

“‘M not,” Niall said slowly, still deciding how he wanted to go about voicing what he’d been feeling. “Not really.” 

Harry leaned in a little, dipping his head downwards. The music was still playing loudly in the background, but he wasn’t paying attention anymore. It was drowned out by this beautiful, interesting boy in front of him. “Why not?”

“Because,” Niall started, blinking his eyes and looking into Harry’s. He drew in a bit of a breath, trying to figure out a way to say this without sounding like too much of a spoiled rich brat. 

“It’s just going to be work when I get to America. The reason we’re moving - my father and I - is to try and build up his stock trading business into an empire,” he shrugged, looking down at his feet.

“And you don’t want to do that?” Harry asked.

Niall shook his head slowly from side to side. This was the first time he’d ever admitted anything about this outwardly. The first time he’d ever voiced all of his concerns and worries and it was a little terrifying. Because suddenly all of it was real, and not just him being confused on account of his newfound responsibilities.

“Have you ever traded a stock?” he asked, his tone dry.

Harry laughed and motioned to himself, obviously pointing out their status difference. “Do I look like I’ve ever traded a stock?” he chuckled.

Niall shrugged his shoulders. He supposed that was a stupid question, but he knew the answer would be “no.” “It’s boring as shit,” he said. “Stressful and boring as shit work.”

Harry raised his eyebrow as he looked at Niall. So that was it. He looked so distraught because the ship was taking him to America for a life he didn’t want to live. “How can it be stressful if it’s boring as shit?” he smirked, teasing Niall just a little.

“Because it’s fast paced, but I _hate_ it,” Niall stressed. Now that the floodgate was open, he couldn’t stop it. No matter that he was standing well below the deck his stayroom was on. That there was loud Irish music pounding all around him. That his shirt was wet on account of the dancing and he was pretty sure someone had spilled beer on the counter he was leaning against. 

“Hmmm...” Harry sighed, holding his hand to his chin. “I could see that,” he finally said.

Niall nodded, his eyes wide. 

“What are you going to America for, then?” Niall asked, eager to change the subject. He could have complained for hours, but it was going to get him nowhere. It wasn’t like it was going to change the situation, so he might as well spend as little time as possible talking about something else while he still could.

“Music,” Harry said, a grin spreading wide across his face. “Singing, really. Loads of opportunity in New York, I hear.”

Niall nodded again. That was all he ever heard. “You can make a career of that?” 

Harry shrugged his shoulders and looked around. He couldn’t imagine not spending all of his evenings in an environment such as this one. “Certainly going to try.”

Niall just looked at him for a moment before glancing around the room as well. He couldn’t very well blame Harry. If he was able to take a risk like that, he definitely would.

But he was stuck, he remembered as his eyes drifted over to the stairs that had led him down to this party in the first place. Led him down to Harry, whose life was far too appealing and served to make Niall even more distraught about his life. Because the way things could be was far more exciting.

His chest felt hot and stress started to build up in his throat, threatening to spill over into a mess of tears if he didn’t get out of there. He glanced at Harry and felt another pang in his chest. Was it jealousy, maybe? Fancy that, being so jealous of someone who had far less opportunity and privilege than he did.

“Right,” Niall said, drawing in a deep breath and forcing a grin on his face. “Well, good luck with that, Harry. Suppose I should be off. Thanks for the company,” he said quickly reaching down to shake Harry’s hand before rushing through the crowd. 

Harry furrowed his eyebrows as he watched Niall go. He wasn’t sure what had happened to make him leave so quickly, but he was far too interested in him to let him just leave like that.

He had to see him again.

* * *

**April 12, 1912**

Niall woke up the next morning with the engines of the ship roaring underneath him. He turned over and tried to go back to sleep, but it was futile because there was a soft knock at his door.

“Just a moment,” he muttered, getting up and looking at himself in the mirror. His hair was a mess and he had sleep in his eyes. He pulled on a robe and answered the door quickly.

Liam. Obviously there to fetch him for breakfast. “Good morning, sir!” he said brightly.

“Hmmm,” Niall said, still standing in the doorway and not letting Liam inside. He didn’t need any help from him, he could get dressed himself.

“I trust you slept well?” he asked, that annoying smile he always had still present on his face. Niall found himself quite annoyed by it, which saddened him a little bit. It wasn’t Liam’s fault he was sour on his whole life. 

Niall gave him a bit of a look. No, he hadn’t slept well. As soon as he’d returned to his room he’d stared at himself in the mirror and collapsed into a crying, frustrated heap on his bed. Then, when he’d finally calmed down after letting all of his pent up stress out, he’d stared at the ceiling and thought about _him_.

Harry. The way he’d sang so beautifully and how his voice carried throughout the entire room, and even further than it. How big his eyes were, and how they crinkled up just a little bit when he laughed. His luscious head of curls and how unruly they were, a perfect personification of his personality.

“Yes,” Niall said, yawning a little bit and stretching. “Very well.”

“Excellent,” Liam continued to smile. “Breakfast will be served in the main dining room in half an hour. Would you like me to fetch you some tea beforehand?”

Niall shook his head. “No, that’s alright. Thank you, Liam,” he said, offering him a gracious nod before shutting the door and leaning against it.

Another day of this first class bullshit.

* * *

“You’re eating fast,” Louis commented, watching as Harry shoveled porridge into his mouth in what seemed to be record time. “You know there’s actually enough food for all of us, right? That’s the joy of being on a luxury ship.”

Harry gave him a look, then turned back to his meal. He nodded his head as he scraped the last bite out of his bowl and placed the spoon in his mouth. 

“Yeah,” he said, licking his lips and tossing the spoon back into the bowl as he stood up. “I know. Got something to do.”

“What could you possibly have to do?” Louis asked him, his long eyebrows knitted in bewilderment.

“Just something,” Harry shrugged, not caring to give any of the details away to Louis. He didn’t need the attitude from his friend and he certainly didn’t need him to go running his mouth about it to everyone who would listen.

He ignored the perplexed look Louis was still giving him as he left the dining saloon. His hands were in the pockets of his brown coat as he walked up the stairs to the Boat Deck. The wind blew in his hair, causing his curls to fly around. It didn’t bother him much, it was just a little chilly.

He didn’t even know where to begin as he glanced around the first class promenade. He had no idea where Niall’s room was or if there was a chance he’d even come out here. So Harry glanced around, sitting down in a wooden deck chair. He figured staying in one place was just as good a plan as wandering around in search of the brown-haired Irish boy. In fact, it was probably better.

The ambiance of the first class area was quite different than what Harry had just experienced downstairs in the dining saloon. Down there, everyone was squished and crowded together in a deck that was below sea level. Up here there was loads of room, people sitting around in the side and taking a leisurely walk.

Harry just walked them all saunter by. Some of them nodded to him with a slight smile. Others looked at him oddly, clearly wondering how someone of his ranks was sitting up there.

Obviously it wasn’t just the passengers who felt that way, because an officer came up to Harry and gave him a look.

Harry glanced up at him. He wasn’t one to get nervous, really. But this guy was giving him the once over and he was sure he was going to get told to leave.

“Sir, what are you-”

“It’s all right!” 

Harry glanced over to the side of the man and saw Niall jog the last couple of steps towards them. He caught up to them, placing his hand on the officer’s shoulder. Which, he obviously didn’t appreciate because he turned his head towards Niall and widened his eyes.

Niall moved his hand and awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, grinning as he did so. “Yeah, sorry, I was running a bit late. It’s all right... he’s here with me.”

The officer glanced at the two of them. He gave Harry another once over and then sighed, giving Niall a bit of a nod before walking away.

“Thanks,” Harry said, looking up at Niall with a wide grin.

Niall raised his eyebrow, but he still sat down in the empty deck chair beside Harry. “Yeah, don’t worry about it. I thought that was you,” he laughed a little. “Woulda been embarassin’ if it wasn’t.”

Harry just laughed, blushing a little bit. Niall was even more cute when he was obviously a bit winded. 

“What’re you doing up here, anyway?” Niall asked, squinting his eyes on account of the sun.

Harry bit his lip. He hadn’t actually thought this far ahead. “Looking for you,” he answered honestly.

Niall chewed at his lip a little as he studied Harry. Unlike Harry’s hair, his was matted down and didn’t move even though it was quite windy up on the deck. “Really?” he asked after a moment. “Why, come to see how our parties up in first class compare?” he smirked.

Harry laughed, shaking his head. No, that was definitely not it. He couldn’t care less about what the parties were like in first class (even though he was certain that they were not to his liking). 

“I was just thinking, after last night...” he started, looking into Niall’s eyes. 

If it was possible, they were even more blue than they had been the night before. Harry figured this was likely due to the equally blue sky amplifying the colour. Another gust of wind hit them, and Harry pushed his unruly hair out of his face. He glanced up at Niall’s hair, still matted down with product and unmoving.

“I thought... you really should do something about your hair,” Harry shrugged, smiling at him a little bit.

“My hair?” Niall asked, reaching up to touch the top of his head. “What’s wrong with my hair?”

Harry shrugged. There actually wasn’t anything wrong with it. It just made Niall look more prim and proper than he actually was, with it parted off to the side like that. 

“I have actually thought about changing it,” Niall pondered, still touching the top of it head.

“Then let’s do it!” Harry exclaimed, standing up. All he wanted was to spend more time with Niall and this seemed like the perfect excuse to do it. Even if it meant getting him a new haircut of all things.

Niall give him a look, still sort of looking unsure. Harry nodded his head frantically, and finally Niall gave in.

“All right,” he said, standing up. “I don’t even know what I would do.”

Harry glanced around. “This ship is massive. There must be some kind of hair salon on it.”

Indeed there was, and the two of them found it rather quickly. They stepped inside, Harry wiggling his eyebrows at Niall for encouragement. Truthfully, he’d never really done anything with his own hair. He’d just let it grow and cut it when it started to get too long for his liking.

“What can I do for you, lads?” a rather well dressed boy came up to them. Harry looked at him with wide eyes. It was clear he worked in a hair salon, because his hair was like nothing Harry had ever seen before - shaved down at the sides and long on top, flipped upwards a little bit.

“Hi, um, Zayn,” Harry said, reading his nametag and glancing up at him. “My friend wants to change his look.”

Zayn gave Niall the once over. Niall glanced over at Harry with a bit of a strange expression on his face, looking both amused and frightened by this eccentric boy who was going to change his entire look.

“What are we going for, then? Maybe a little cut? The colour, perhaps?”

Niall looked at Zayn, considering those options for a moment before he got a twinkle in his eye. He glanced at Harry with a wide grin. “Blonde,” he said slowly.

“Blonde,” Zayn repeated, peering in closer to Niall’s chestnut brown hair. “That’s quite dramatic.”

Niall glanced over at Harry again, looking more unsure of himself this time. “Yeah...” he said, biting his lip. “What do you think?”

It was difficult for Harry to envision Niall with light blonde hair, but the more he thought about it, the more he liked it. Plus he looked happy, which was really all that mattered to Harry. He never wanted to see him looking miserable again.

“I think it’ll look really good,” Harry said, nodding his approval.

“All right then!” Zayn said, clapping his hands together and pulling Niall towards the back of the salon. “Blonde it is. And maybe we’ll cut it up a bit too, hmm? You look far too much like an old businessman, mate.”

Harry laughed, giving one more encouraging nod to Niall as he was whisked off into the salon area by Zayn. 

Now, he supposed all he could do was wait.

* * *

“What do you think?”

Niall’s eyes went wide with shock as Zayn handed him the mirror. He hadn’t allowed him to look until he was completely finished, and now that it was Niall truly couldn’t believe he’d gone through with this.

His father was absolutely going to kill him.

His hair was definitely blonde - light and pale yellow like the sun at the tips. His natural brown colour still shone through - mostly on the sides where Zayn had cut his hair short. The style was also different. No more of this flat parted at the side nonsense. Instead it was a messy look of golden locks all loosely swept to one side.

Niall was fairly certain he’d never seen this sort of hairstyle before. If he ignored the fact that this was only temporary and he’d probably be forced to change it back, it wasn’t half bad. 

It was rather cool, actually.

“I love it,” Niall grinned, turning back to Zayn and pulling the black cape off of his front that had shielded his clothes from the chemicals and the locks that Zayn had cut off.

“Yeah? Payment’s at the front, then,” Zayn said, pointing him back towards the entrance.

Niall gulped as he walked towards it. He wondered what Harry was going to say and if he was going to think it looked stupid. Because it looked stupid, didn’t it? The seed out doubt only began to grow as Niall neared the entrance to where Harry was waiting for him.

He emerged from the back and as soon as he did, Harry stood up from his seat. His eyes were wide as he looked at Niall, slowly clasping a hand over his mouth. “Oh...” he said, though it was muffled by his hand.

“What do you think?” Niall asked, preparing to cringe when Harry burst out laughing.

But he didn’t. “It looks incredible,” Harry said, moving his hand and walking closer to Niall, inspecting his hair. “Wow...”

“Yeah?” Niall asked as he pulled his money clip out of his pocket and handed a wad of bills to Zayn. “Because you looked...”

“It’s _different_ ,” Harry said, his eyes still wide. He was unable to look away. “But it suits you. It looks really good.”

“Thanks,” Niall said, smiling at Harry and then looking at the ground as his cheeks turned pink. “My father’s going to kill me,” he laughed as the two of them left the shop and continued to walk around the boat deck. “Probably make me change it back as soon as he sees it.”

Harry squinted at him and shook his head. “Don’t change it back,” he advised, looking at his hair again. It really did suit him a lot better this way.

Niall shrugged, still looking down at the ground. “Can’t run a business looking like this,” he muttered, scuffing his feet against the wooden deck.

“Thought you didn’t want to do that,” Harry cut in, glancing over at him.

Niall laughed a bit, but it was more spiteful this time. He glanced at Harry and sort of narrowed his gaze. Of course he didn’t want to do that. He didn’t have much of a choice. 

“I have to,” he replied.

“No you don’t,” Harry said slowly, giving Niall a serious look.

Niall drew in a sharp breath as Harry’s green eyes bore into his own, shining with absolute determination. Like what he was suggesting wasn’t completely asinine.

“I’m not-” Niall started, not exactly knowing what he was going to say, but knowing he had to defend himself. Because his life wasn’t like Harry’s. He couldn’t just pick up and do whatever he wanted at a moment’s notice. He couldn’t be free-spirited. He had responsibilities and a hell of a lot of weight on his shoulders.

But before he had a chance to say any of that, Harry grabbed his hand tightly. “Come on,” he said, pulling Niall in the other direction, towards the bow of the ship. 

Niall glanced down at his hand, interlocked with Harry’s. It sent a shock through his whole system that almost made him shiver. His skin was warm, and his hand was gripped tight. Just like that, Niall forgot about all of his worries. All he could focus on was Harry touching him as they walked briskly along the deck to the front of the ship.

“Look at this,” Harry said as they finally reached the pointy bow. He leaned over on the white railing, peering down into the ocean water that was breaking and crashing against the side of the ship.

“What?” Niall asked, following Harry’s gaze downwards. It was just water.

“The ocean is endless,” Harry explained, glancing up and making eye contact with Niall for just a split second before leaning back over and peering down again. 

Niall peered downwards too, not knowing what Harry was on about.

“There’s things down there that we don’t even know about. It’s endless and deep and anything could be down there. It’s like... a sea of possibilities,” he smiled, looking up at Niall. 

Niall nodded, starting to grasp what Harry was trying to say. It didn’t mean much to him though - because where Harry’s life might have been like the sea, his own certainly wasn’t.

But Harry kept talking. “And up here, right where we are now, no one cares about any of that shite,” he said, giving Niall a look. “None of that bullshit in life matters, because look at this,” he said, glancing out from the front of the ship and outstretching his arms. “Feel that,” he said, leaning his head back.

Niall gave Harry an odd look which Harry had caught.

“You’re not feeling it,” Harry said, stating the obvious. “Come on.”

He took Niall’s hand again, but this time instead of leading him, he pulled him towards the front of the ship. He placed his hands on Niall’s hips, urging him to climb up onto the rails.

“Harry,” Niall said cautiously, glancing back at him. This didn’t seem like the safest plan.

“Don’t worry,” Harry said slowly, tightening his grip on Niall’s waist. “I’ve got you. I won’t let go.”

Niall nodded, glancing out into the ocean. For the first time he could sort of see why Harry was so enraptured by the view. It was so vast - just ocean and sky for miles and miles. The wind was blowing in his hair.. and for once he was actually able to feel and enjoy it.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Harry breathed, climbing up on the railing as well, but still keeping one arm locked around Niall’s small waist. 

“Yeah,” Niall breathed. It was all he could manage given the scene in front of him and how close Harry’s body was to his.

“It’s just...” Harry grinned, raising one of his arms high into the air and almost punching the sky. “I’m the king of the world!” he shouted as loud as he could.

Niall almost doubled over laughing, still grinning out onto the crashing water. The ocean wind was hard against his face. “You’re mad,” he laughed.

“Yeah,” Harry shrugged as though he didn’t care. “But you need to be a little mad to live life like I do. You try it.”

Niall glanced back at him, and Harry once again gave him an encouraging nod. Just like he had in the hair salon... and well, he hadn’t been wrong about that. Plus, this was far less of a commitment. 

“I’m the king of the world!” Niall shouted, probably with more laughter and less gusto than Harry had, but he shouted it all the same.

“Yeah,” Harry smiled, holding onto Niall tighter as they continued to stand there on the edge of the ship. Where nothing else mattered but the two of them and the vast sea of possibilities that lay ahead.

With all of that, Niall’s heart was beating fast. For the first time in a long time he truly felt like himself. Or rather, the person he could be if he wasn’t restrained to this life he was born into.

* * *

The trumpets sounded a few hours later, signalling that it was time for dinner.

Harry and Niall were giggling, as they had been for much of the day. They’d just spent the afternoon walking around the boat deck, occasionally looking out and commenting on every passenger who had the misfortune of walking by them.

Niall’s stomach rumbled at the sound. He wasn’t exactly looking forward to leaving Harry, and he definitely wasn’t looking forward to eating caviar. But he supposed it couldn’t be helped. After all, they’d skipped lunch.

“What’s that?” Harry asked, glancing around as suddenly everyone on the deck came to life and began to head in one direction.

“Dinner,” Niall explained, looking at him regretfully. “Suppose I should be off, then.”

Harry nodded. He was quite hungry himself - though he really didn’t want to leave and end his day with Niall. It had been a lot more fun than he’d expected when he’d sought him out that morning.

“Unless,” Niall said mischievously, reaching out and taking Harry’s hand. “Could eat together,” he suggested.

Harry snorted. “They’ll never let me in there. You saw how that guy was ready to kick me off the deck.”

Niall shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t think it would be such a big deal. “Yeah, but you’re with me. We’ll get you dressed up with some of my clothes, I must have something that’ll fit you. Or maybe Liam will.”

“Liam?” Harry asked, cocking his head to the side.

“Yeah, he’s uh,” Niall started, feeling awkward all of a sudden. “He’s my helper, sort of. Follows us around and does stuff for us.”

“Servant,” Harry corrected him. “The word for that is servant.”

Yeah, Niall supposed that was true. Except that he really hated that word. “I prefer helper,” he grinned cheekily, winking at Harry and pulling him down the deck and towards his stayroom. “Come on, I’ll show you how we party in first class.”

Harry laughed. One look at Niall’s bright smile and he just couldn’t say no to the boy. Plus he really didn’t want to leave him. He could deal with a bit of a pretentious first class dinner if it meant spending more time with Niall.

“All right,” he said, following Niall but not making any motion to let go of his hand as they continued through the deck and down the steps to Niall’s room. “But I’m not eating any caviar.”

Niall laughed and shook his head. “If I’m eating caviar, you’re eating caviar.”

* * *

They stopped in front of Liam’s room, which was across from Niall’s on the B Deck. Niall glanced at Harry before knocking on the door.

It took a couple moments, but Liam finally opened up. “Yes, sir,” he said, glancing at Harry but then looking right back at Niall. He never lost the bright smile on his face, but his eyes darted straight up to the top of Niall’s head. “What can I do for you?”

“Yeah, Liam,” Niall said, looking over at Harry. “This is my friend Harry. He’s going to be joining us for dinner... I don’t suppose you have something for him to wear?” he asked, biting his lip. “I’d lend him something of mine, but I don’t really think we’re the same size.”

“Hmmm...” Liam said, glancing at Harry. “Yes, I think I do. Just a moment,” he said, ushering the two of them into his room while he ducked into his closet.

Harry and Niall stood there for a couple of minutes while Liam rifled through his things. Niall scratched the back of his head, he’d nearly forgotten about his hair colour situation. Hopefully having Harry there with him would soften the blow and his father wouldn’t be too angry with him.

At least, not in public.

“There we are,” Liam said, handing a folded pair of black pants, a white shirt and a black suit jacket to Harry. “That should be fine.”

“Thanks,” Niall said gratefully, nodding to Liam in farewell, as he ushered Harry quickly into his own room.

“Better get changed, then,” Niall said. “I’m going to change as well so uh,” he said avoiding making eye contact with Harry. “You can change in here,” he nodded before hastily walking into his bedroom.

He tried to be as quick as possible, shrugging off his sweaty white shirt and pulling another one just like it out of the closet. He figured there was no need to change his trousers - they still looked alright. He pulled the new shirt on, buttoning it up quickly and looking at himself in the mirror. 

He also pulled on a white bowtie, fastening it before putting his black suit jacket back on. Then he grabbed a second bowtie for Harry.

He gave himself the once over in the mirror, his eye eventually resting on his hair.“Oh god,” he muttered to himself. He was such a dead man.

But what was done was done, he supposed. Besides, even if his father didn’t approve of his hair, he himself really liked it. Not that what he thought ever mattered that much. Still, he had to disregard it. He stepped out of his room, adjusting the cuffs on his coat as he stepped into the sitting area. 

“How’s it going, then?” he asked, looking up. His breath caught in his throat as he saw Harry standing there, his trousers done up and the white shirt hanging on his shoulders unbuttoned and showing off his chest and stomach.

“Yeah, not quite yet...” Harry stammered a little and blushing as Niall continued to look at him.

The fabric of Niall’s trousers wasn’t forgiving in the least, and he had to tear his eyes away from Harry before the situation become anymore embarrassing. He really shouldn’t have been aroused so easily - it wasn’t like he’d never seen another man shirtless before.

“Just, yeah,” Niall said, looking anywhere in the room but at Harry’s skin. “You’ve got to button the shirt up before you do those up,” he said, glancing up at the ceiling. He took a deep breath, trying calm himself.

“Right,” Harry said. It wasn’t like he didn’t actually know that, he was just nervous on account of... well, everything. He fancied himself a pretty confident lad, but this was a world he literally knew nothing about.

He undid the trousers and buttoned up the shirt, tucking it in before fastening them again. He bent over to pick up the suit jacket from the seat he’d laid it on, but Niall stopped him.

“Wait,” he said, walking over to Harry and handing him and extra white bowtie. He reached upwards and wrapped the long fabric around Harry’s neck, fastening it in the front. He tugged on it a bit to tighten it and looked up at Harry.

They were literally so close, and Niall was still breathing hard and trying to get rid of the crowding problem in his pants. He was nearly at eye level with Harry’s lips, and the thought flashed through his mind of what it would be like to kiss them. He imagined they’d be soft and... no, this was definitely not a safe thought either.

“How’s that feel?” he asked, darting his attention back to the bowtie around Harry’s next.

“Yeah,” Harry nodded his head. “Feels good.”

Niall patted him on the arm and Harry bent down to grab the suit jacket it pull it on. He tugged at it a little, raising his chin and looking down at Niall with an exaggerated simper. 

Niall laughed, giving him the once over. Harry’s hair was still a messy mop, but he supposed he couldn’t be too judgmental given the state of his own locks. So he just nodded at him. “Dapper,” he commented. “You’ll fit right in.”

“Yeah?” Harry asked. “I look like I’ve got loads of money then?”

“You look like a right millionaire,” Niall grinned, walking towards the door. “Let’s go.”

* * *

They walked down the stairs to the dining area and if Harry had thought hanging out on the boat deck for the day was ritzy, it was nothing compared to this.

Obviously everyone was dressed in their very best. The women all looked exquisite, wearing sparking long gowns, their hair all styled perfectly. Then men all looked very much the same, but there was still an aura of class about them. They all smiled politely at one another, shaking hands firmly and giving the girls kisses on the cheek.

“Here we go,” Niall muttered, walking over to a group of men. Harry figured that this was who he’d sat with the night before, and that the man he was tapping on the shoulder must have been his father.

Indeed he was correct.

“Niall,” he said, glancing down at his son. His gaze fell right onto Niall’s mess of newly blonde hair. 

“Father,” he said slowly, gesturing towards Harry. “This is my friend, Harry Styles. I was thinking he could join us for dinner tonight.”

Niall’s father turned his head to look at Harry, who grinned. He also waved, but then quickly thought better of it and outstretched his hand. 

Bobby accepted, shaking Harry’s hand firmly as he made eye contact with him. “Bobby Horan,” he said, nodding his head.

“Nice to meet you, um, sir,” Harry said, glancing over at Niall out of the side of his eye.

Bobby nodded again before turning back to Niall. “I wasn’t aware you had friends on the ship.”

“Just met him yesterday,” Niall shrugged, his hands still in his pockets as he rocked on his feet a little.

“Mhmm,” Bobby pressed his lips together as he looked down at his son again. “And what happened to your hair?”

“Ah yeah,” Niall tried to laugh it off like it wasn’t a big deal. “Thought I’d change it, was a little dull.”

Bobby just gave him a look, keeping his mouth firmly pressed together in a thin line. But he didn’t say anything more on the subject. Instead he turned around as the rest of their group moved towards the table. “Suppose we should be seated, then. You’re welcome to join us, Harry.”

Harry beamed, looking over at Niall. He grabbed Niall’s arm as the two of them walked to the table and Niall looked over at him with a smile as well. He was clearly grateful that he hadn’t been given hell about his hair.

The waitstaff came around and filled their glasses with wine, just as they had the night before. Just as any waitstaff did at every single fancy dinner Niall had been to in his life.

But this one didn’t seem so terrible, not with Harry sitting right beside him and smiling as he watched the red liquid filling up his crystal glass.

“Thank you,” he said, nodding his head and glancing up at the man. He picked up the glass and brought it to his lips, taking a generous sip. “It’s good,” he said, looking over at Niall.

Niall shrugged a bit, taking a sip of his own wine. “It’s all right.”

Harry laughed, taking a bun from the basket off the table and proceeding to butter it as yet another waiter came around, offering caviar to everyone at the table. And of course, one by one they accepted.

Niall wrinkled his nose as the waiter made his way towards them. Thankfully, he got to Harry first.

“Caviar, sir?” he asked.

And Harry just held his hand up. “No thanks,” he said with a slight smirk, looking over at Niall. “Don’t care for it.”

The waiter nodded, walking over to Niall and asking the same question of him.

Niall glanced at Harry, who just shrugged his shoulders in silent encouragement. “No thank you,” he said politely, looking up at the waiter.

Harry gave Niall a coy smile, sitting up in his seat with pride as he looked at him. Niall just giggled a bit, looking downwards as he placed his cloth serviette on his lap.

He completely ignored the fact that his father was watching his every move and was clearly less than pleased with him.

That was until he spoke up.

“So Harry,” he asked, taking a sip of his wine and glancing past Niall over at him. “Where are you from?”

“England,” Harry nodded, taking a bite of his bun and chewing on it as he spoke. “Cheshire, actually.”

“I see,” Bobby said, still studying him. “And what is it that you do for a living?”

“I um, I sing,” Harry nodded, still keeping the smile on his face. 

“Oh, really?” Bobby commented, looking around the table. Everyone else was silent as well, listening to the exchange and obviously keen on hearing more. “Anything I might of heard of?”

Harry shrugged. “I don’t think so. I mostly just sing in pubs and the like.”

“He’s really good,” Niall chimed in, just as the first course was being served. “Heard him singing last night.”

Bobby just looked at Niall, raising his eyebrow.

Niall gulped because he realise he’d said a bit too much. “Yeah... party... downstairs. Yeah.”

“In the lower decks, then,” Bobby said to him, pressing his mouth together in the same way he had when he’d seen Niall’s hair.

Niall just shrugged it off like it wasn’t a big deal. Because it really wasn’t, and he didn’t know why it should matter. “Party’s a party.”

“Yes, I suppose that’s true,” Bobby laughed, looking around at the other men at the table. They all laughed as well, they same way that they always seemed to. They were like a pack that way, no original thought between the lot of them.

It sort of made Niall sick and if there was one thing he hated about this life, it was that. He couldn’t imagine being one of those men in twenty years time.

So he turned to Harry. “What do you think I have to do to get a pint around here?” he asked quietly, leaning in so Harry could hear him.

Harry giggled, glancing around. The rest of the table had moved on to talking about another topic. Bobby had sent one last look at the pair before returning to his own conversation with his obviously preferred choice of company.

“I reckon you could ask one of them,” he whispered back, also leaning in to talk to Niall.

Niall laughed, looking around and waiting as the waiter placed a plate of food in front of him. “Yeah,” he said quietly, grinning all the while. “Do you think that any of these guys even know what a pint is?”

Harry covered his mouth with his hand, trying to muffle his laughter. It didn’t really work. “You could ask them to head down to F deck and fetch one for you.”

“I’d have to slip him a twenty,” Niall laughed, glancing around. He pulled a bill out of his pocket.

“Could do, could do,” Harry said, looking around as another waiter came by to check on their wine.

“Um, excuse me good sir,” Niall laughed, looking up at the waiter.

Harry leaned down, resting his head on Niall’s shoulder as he laughed. “Niall,” he warned, not thinking he was actually going to do it.

And indeed he called his bluff. He could feel Bobby’s eyes on him, and figured he’d pushed his luck quite enough that day. “I’ll just... take a refill of that, please. Yeah, thank you. He’ll have some too,” he smiled, pointing over at Harry’s empty glass.

“I knew you weren’t going to do it,” Harry muttered, still smirking as he sat back up and began to cut his chicken.

Niall giggled, shoving a carrot into his mouth and chewing on it thoughtfully. He swallowed and glanced at Harry. “No, but it’s all right. We’ll get one later.”

Harry looked over at nodded at him. “Absolutely.”

Niall looked down at his food. He couldn’t stop smiling even if he tried. Even though he knew his father was keeping a watchful eye on him, he didn’t quite care. When he got to America, it was going to be all work. For now, he was going to allow himself to have some fun.

* * *

Niall and Harry stumbled back up the stairs after drinking one too many of those pints that they’d agreed on during dinner. It was late and it was dark and the cold ocean air wind was blowing harshly. Not that either of them noticed it.

It was Harry’s idea. “You’ve had one too many,” he’d laughed over the loud folk music down in the below sea level deck, in the exact same place they’d been the night before. “I’m taking you back to your room.”

Which was quite ironic, given Niall was the one holding onto Harry as they stumbled onto the Boat Deck and well past Niall’s room.

“How’d we get here?” Niall laughed, glancing around. There wasn’t much to see - just the white railing and the black night sky. 

Harry just looked at him and giggled, pulling on him as they continued to walk. Of course this was a failure, because he tripped over his own feet and Niall had to cling to him to keep him upright.

“ _I’ve_ had one too many?” Niall laughed as he held onto Harry, his arms slung around his waist. 

Harry shrugged, still looking over at Niall and grinning. He walked over to the railing, pulling away from Niall and leaning backwards against it. He tilted his head back and looked up at the stars.

“Look at that,” he sighed, his eyes fleeting from star to star to star, not settling on any one place.

Niall leaned back on the railing too and glanced upwards. Stars had never quite fascinated him, so instead he turned his head to look at Harry. “Rather look at you,” he said slowly, his heart jumping in his chest because he couldn’t believe he’d admitted that. He didn’t even know what he was saying.

Harry turned his head slowly, the stars forgotten as he looked at Niall. Suddenly nothing was funny anymore. Not as the newly blonde haired boy looked at him, his blue eyes half-closed and his mouth hanging half-open, drawing in shaky, nervous breaths.

Harry swallowed, leaning in closer to him. Niall didn’t move. In fact, he actually shuffled in a little closer and tilted his head upwards to meet Harry’s mouth that was coming down to meet his own.

Harry didn’t hesitate to kiss him, to place his hand on the side of Niall’s face and softly touch his skin as their lips connected. Niall had never kissed anyone before, and up until Harry he’d never really thought about it. If he hadn’t been so drunk, he probably would have been a lot more nervous. Luckily, alcohol lead the way as he moved his mouth against Harry’s and let his tongue slip inside.

Harry sighed against Niall’s lips as they continued to kiss on the deck where anyone could see them. Had he been desperately waiting for this to happen? Yes. Had he expected it? Certainly not.

He pulled away from him, pecking at the side of Niall’s mouth before opening his eyes. “Suppose we should get you back to your room,” he said with a slight nod, not breaking eye contact with Niall.

Niall swallowed, nodding his head. Yes, that was probably for the best. He was all of a sudden keenly aware that they were standing right out in the open. Still, that didn’t stop him from taking hold of Harry’s hand as they silently walked back down the stairs and through the halls to his stayroom.

When they reached the door Niall turned to Harry. He was still too drunk to think straight. In an attempt to clear his head, he looked down at the ground before looking back up into Harry’s eyes. “Goodnight,” he said softly, leaning up to kiss Harry on the mouth one last time before opening the door. “Come find me tomorrow.”

Harry nodded his head as Niall stepped inside. “I will.”

* * *

**April 13, 1912**

The next morning there was a knock at Niall’s door that didn’t stop. He groaned, rolling over. Last night’s pints were certainly paying him back now.

Still he forced himself to get up, pulling on his black robe, with the intention to stop the intrusive noise ringing through his room. He didn’t think it could be Harry - it was a bit early for that. And Liam wasn’t usually so persistent.

He wore an unimpressed look on his face as he opened the door, his eyes quickly widening as he came face to face with with his father - who was wearing a look of utter annoyance.

“Good morning,” he said stiffly, letting himself into the room. “I trust you’re alone in here.”

“Uh,” Niall said, not quite sure what he was on about. “Yes.”

“Good,” he replied, sitting down in the large couch that was in the sitting area of his room. “Go on and get some clothes on.”

Niall glanced over at the clock. “But-”

“Go on,” Bobby stressed, giving him a look and cocking his head towards the door with the bathroom.

Niall sighed. His dad was obviously pissed off, and he knew better than to argue with him. So walked over to the bathroom, pulling off his robe and nightclothes as he stepped into the shower. The hot water ran over him and he racked his brain to figure out why his father was so keen on forcing him awake so early.

He was probably pissed off about his hair and his demeanor at dinner the night before. That had to be it. He convinced himself that was all it was as he pulled on a pair of black trousers and a dress shirt.

He also looked at himself in the mirror, sighing and styling his hair in the same way he always did. It didn’t exactly work, given it was quite short at the sides and still very clearly blonde, but it was the best he could do.

He stepped back into the sitting room where Bobby was still on the couch, his arms folded into his lap. Of course when he saw Niall, he stood up.

Niall gulped because he knew he was in for it.

“Have you ever been with a woman?” Bobby asked him point blank, catching Niall completely off guard.

Niall snorted a little bit, feeling his cheeks turn hot for a couple of reasons. Obviously this was an embarrassing conversation to be having with his father to begin with. And of course that comment wasn’t without accusation - his father must have known what had gone on with Harry the night before. 

Niall sighed, deliberately not making eye contact. “No,” he finally answered honestly, looking down at the ground.

“Well I would suggest that you do just that,” Bobby said to him, his mouth pressed together and his tone firm. “Instead of gallivanting around the ship kissing other boys.”

“How did you...” Niall started, not that it mattered in the least.

But Bobby ignored him. “We are on this ship on our way to _America_ to make a new life and start fresh. The key to that is gaining respect of some of the highest class people here.”

“You’ve done a fine job of that,” Niall said with only a hint of snark in his voice. It was true, his father had. He just didn’t really care about any of it. 

“I have,” Bobby nodded, still glaring down at his son. “And I won’t have you messing about and ruining all of that.”

“I’m not-” Niall started to protest, but he was quickly cut off.

“What do you think that people think of us when you show up to dinner with your hair looking like _that_?” Bobby asked, throwing his hands towards Niall. “When you show up with a boy you’ve met on the ship and the two of you spend the whole time whispering? When I’m asked in the smoking room why my boy is up on the boat deck snogging another lad?” he roared, his voice getting louder with every word.

“I’m sorry,” Niall protested, growing frantic. 

“You’re not to see him again,” Bobby continued, his voice lower but still dangerously firm. “Anywhere you go on this ship you’ll be accompanied by either me or Liam. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Niall muttered, staring at the ground. Tears stung in his eyes, but he wouldn’t give his father the satisfaction of seeing him cry.

“Good,” Bobby said, turning to leave of the room. He glanced back at Niall before opening the door. “Liam will be along in half an hour to fetch you for breakfast. And for God sakes, get your hair fixed after that.”

Niall sighed once his father was gone. He sat down on the couch, taking deep breaths and trying to suppress all of his anger. Anger with himself for being so careless about kissing Harry the night before in plain sight. Anger with his father for forcing this entire life onto him that he didn’t want. Even anger with Harry for being so fucking irresistible, that Niall had no choice but to fall under his spell.

He sighed, leaning back and placing his feet on the armrest. He supposed the only thing he could do was wait for Liam to come escort him to breakfast.

* * *

Harry walked briskly up the stairs and through the halls to Niall’s stayroom. He’d hung back as long as he could before going to see him, knowing that he’d likely be at breakfast.

But he couldn’t wait any longer. The memory of Niall’s lips on his own was driving him as he moved through the first class area, careful not to make eye contact with anyone. He didn’t want to risk getting kicked out before he even got a chance to find Niall.

Perhaps he should have worn the clothes he was lent the night before to blend in better, but instead they were neatly folded and tucked under his arm.

He drew in a deep breath as he reached Niall’s door, glancing around. No one was paying him any attention. So he knocked softly.

No answer.

Harry bit his lip. Could Niall still be at breakfast? It didn’t seem that way, since there were loads of people up and about. He reached up and knocked again, a bit harder this time.

The door cracked open, Niall peering out of it. “Harry,” he said slowly, sticking his head out and glancing around.

“Hi!” Harry said brightly, grinning from ear to ear as soon as he saw Niall’s face. His heart beat fast in his chest as he thought of the night before again. He leaned in, trying to enter the room and kiss Niall at the same time. But Niall pulled away from him, opening the door a little bit wider. 

“I can’t see you,” Niall said shortly, his eyes dropping to the ground as he bit his lip.

Of all the things Harry had expected to happen (mostly a lot of kissing, if he was being honest) when he’d finally reached Niall’s room, this wasn’t even on the list. “What?” he asked, taken aback.

Niall looked up at him and Harry tried to search his face for any explanation. All he found was the sad, distant look that he’d noticed when he’d first seen him boarding the ship. 

“You can’t?” Harry asked cautiously, leaning in a bit closer to Niall. He was still in the hallway, the door still wide open, Niall not letting him inside his room. “Or you don’t want to?”

“I,” Niall started, peeking his head back into the hall and sighing again. He pulled Harry into his room and quickly shut the door. “I _can’t_ ,” he stressed, giving Harry a look of desperation. 

“Of course you can,” Harry replied, not really understanding at all, given he was standing right there in Niall’s room, only an arm’s length away from this incredibly magnetic boy. “Seeing me right now.”

“No,” Niall said, shaking his head and looking down at the ground. “No, no, no.” He looked back up at Harry. His big green eyes were looking at him with concern and disappointment. That made sense, and it made Niall feel like shit. He’d done everything to lead Harry on and for what? It wasn’t like they could continue on this path anyway. In a few days they’d both be off the ship going their separate ways. So why did any of this matter?

“My father worked too hard for me to just mess about,” Niall said, echoing exactly what Bobby had told him earlier in the day. 

“Mess about?” Harry asked, raising his eyebrow and looking hurt. “So dancing with me and drinking pints with me and spending the entire day with me and snogging me is just messing about?”

“Yeah,” Niall said seriously, because, well, it was. “That’s not who I am, Harry. This,” he said, motioning to the lavish room they were standing in, “is who I am.”

“It is not,” Harry said, moving in closer to him again, but Niall just backed away. “You hate all of this. Told me that yourself.”

“You don’t know me,” Niall shot back, trying his best to make Harry angry so he’d just leave already. This was painful enough as it was. “You spent one day with me, you don’t know me.”

Harry sighed, nodding his head sadly as he handed the clothes back to Niall. Niall accepted them, snatching them out of Harry’s hands and clutching them to his chest.

“All right,” Harry said, turning to leave. “But if you actually do figure out who you are, you know where I’ll be.”

With that, he left. Niall sat down on the couch, still clutching the clothing like a lifeline against his chest. The tears that had been building up in his eyes all morning finally started to fall, and Niall buried his face in the material.

The fact that it smelled like Harry only made him cry harder.

* * *

“How’s that, then?” John, one of Bobby’s friends asked Niall after he took a drag from the cigar he’d handed him. “One of the finest.”

“Yeah,” Niall nodded, looking down at it. “It’s good. Smooth.” It actually wasn’t bad, but he preferred a cigarette with pints. Though he supposed those days were over now. He tried his best not to dwell on it as he took as sip of his brandy.

They were sitting in the smoking room, as Bobby always did after supper. Niall had spent the better part of his day moping about in his stayroom, not caring to go out onto the deck of the ship. What would have been the point? But he figured after all he’d done to piss off his father he should probably join him for a cigar. Even though he was still sitting there with his hair blonde - he figured that was the one thing he could still have as a memento from his little act of rebellion.

“As I was saying,” Bobby said, taking a drag from his own cigar and blowing the smoke out of his mouth slowly. “We’ve got a lovely flat on the Upper East Side. They told me that the view is spectacular from it. Just up the street from where the office will be.”

“Marvelous, marvelous,” John chuckled, patting Niall lightly on the back. “Not that the view will matter much to you, hmm? Spending every waking hour in the office.”

Niall forced a bit of a laugh. “Well, I reckon it won’t be every waking hour.”

“Right, some of the sleeping ones too,” John said, smiling at him and giving a bit of a knowing look to Bobby.

“He’ll certainly be working hard,” Bobby said, eyeing him.

Niall smiled and nodded, taking a sip of his brandy and another drag from his cigar. He figured there was no point in talking - whatever he said wouldn’t matter anyway.

But that didn’t stop them from continuing on. “You thought they worked hard in Ireland? Wait until you see America. Don’t think they’ve ever heard of a weekend.”

Bobby laughed, nodding his head as he turned to look at Niall. His eyes were wide and expectant, as if to tell him that everything John was saying was real.

Niall gulped. He knew it was going to be a lot of work, he’d known that ever since his father had told him about this stupid plan. It was just that he didn’t care at all, and it was so much worse when he was going to have to spend every minute of his life going through the motions of complete and utter boredom.

“Ah, but it’ll all be worth it, then,” John said, giving Niall a bit of a hopeful look. “You’ll be successful, and one day you’ll have a son who you can bring on a luxury liner across the Atlantic. Show him all of this opportunity and have a cigar and brandy with him when its his turn to take over the business.”

Niall nodded politely, and he smiled as though that was something he was looking forward to. It certainly wasn’t, and if he ever did have a son of his own he’d definitely never put him down this awful path.

“Gotta find a wife before he has a son,” Bobby said, leaning over and giving Niall another look. “But he’s working on that.”

Niall shifted uncomfortably. “Yeh,” was all he said before taking another sip of the brandy. At the very least it was making his chest feel warm and taking the edge off of this dreadfully boring and somehow painful evening.

Was this what the rest of his life was going to be like? He couldn’t imagine what was worse - this or spending all of his time hunched over a desk in New York City.

Bobby and John continued to laugh about something else, but Niall wasn’t even paying attention anymore. Instead, he let his mind wander. Even though he knew he shouldn’t, he let it wander all the way down to steerage.

Harry was probably singing, and it was probably perfect and loud and making everyone in the room enjoy themselves even more. There was probably dancing and laughter, and not the pompous kind of laughter that his father was currently enjoying with John either.

Niall sighed to himself, trying to focus on the conversation at hand and forget all about Harry. What was done, was done. That life was nice for Harry, but it just wasn’t going to work out for him.

* * *

“Where’s the snooty blonde lad, then?” Louis asked, sitting down next to Harry on a bench later that night. The beer in his glass swished around as he leaned back.

Harry sighed. He glanced around. The night before, he’d been at this very same party. Only he’d been dancing with Niall, drinking pints and in a much jollier mood than he was tonight. Now, he was just sitting there scowling. He’d only gotten up to sing one song, and his heart hadn’t even been in it.

He shrugged, looking at Louis. “Don’t know,” he finally said because he couldn’t think of anything better.

“I’d guess he’s upstairs with the rich folk. Can’t be bothered with us in steerage,” Louis shook his head, taking a large swig of his pint.

Harry just shrugged. “I suppose.”

Louis snorted, slapping Harry on the back as he laughed. “Got a stick up his arse, does he? Thinks he’s better than you because he’s got twenty suit jackets and a fancy room on the C Deck?”

“B Deck,” Harry muttered, even though that wasn’t the point. 

“Even worse,” Louis laughed. “Better off without him anyway. People like that suck the life out of people like us,” he nodded, looking at Harry seriously. 

“He’s not like that,” Harry said. He didn’t know why he was so keen on defending Niall, because it certainly seemed like Niall had every intention of being exactly how Louis was describing him. 

“Absolutely he is,” Louis nodded his head feverishly. “Up there discussing business over a whiskey instead of down here having fun.”

Harry didn’t say anything, choosing instead to just stare into his half-finished pint and ponder that. Even if he was upset with Niall, he couldn’t believe that to be true. He just couldn’t understand why Niall. if he was so dead-set against this life that was set out for him, would not change it?

“Come on,” Louis said, nudging Harry. “Go on up there and sing. Enjoy your life. Just because he’s not going to doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.”

Harry nodded. For once, Louis actually said something that made sense. “You’re right,” he smiled, setting his beer down and standing up.

“I’m always right,” Louis grinned as Harry walked over to the stage, keen on singing his heart out.

* * *

**April 14, 1912**

Harry had spent the entire night tossing and turning and dreaming about Niall. His mind was stuck on him, and Louis’s comments just kept repeating over and over again in his head.

It was what kept him awake and only in a half asleep state for a good portion of the night, and it was what got Harry back up to that first class deck he had become so very familiar with the next morning.

It was quite empty, which was odd. He’d waited until after breakfast to get moving, so he figured there should have been more people around. That was until he nearly ran into a steward, who had informed him that everyone was in church.

Ah, right, that made sense. There would be a church service on the Sunday morning. Harry walked around until he found it, a room off to the side in the familiar dining hall that he’d been in with Niall two days ago.

Now he could hear all of the first class voices coming together and singing hymns. He peered into the glass doors to try and catch a glimpse of Niall, but found himself being harshly pushed away.

“Sir, you can’t be here,” one of the two men guarding the door said. 

“I’m just waiting for someone,” Harry protested, trying to peer in through the glass again. But he was shoved away.

“You’ll have to leave, your presence here is not appropriate.”

Harry sighed, shrugging the guy off of him as he stepped away. He supposed he’d have to wait somewhere else. He walked back up the stairs and rounded the corner, sitting down on a somewhat hidden chair on the Boat Deck.

Hopefully Niall would come by soon.

* * *

Niall walked a few paces behind his father and Liam. His hands were in his pockets and he watched his feet as he walked. Church hadn’t been so bad, he supposed. Just boring, like it always was.

That, and the singing really had lost its charm now that he’d heard Harry’s voice. A few times throughout the service he’d caught himself imagining what the hymns would sound like had Harry been singing them. Then he would frown at his own thoughts and force himself to concentrate on singing them himself.

He turned the corner, ready to spend another day moping about in his room.

That was when he felt a hand around his arm. He turned around sharply at the touch, his expression softening when he saw Harry. But before he could say anything, Harry was pulling him into what looked to be the gym area.

“Harry,” Niall protested, once they were in the room. “I can’t-”

“Just wait,” Harry pleaded, standing in front of him and placing his arm against the wall. “I just need to talk to you.”

Niall glanced backwards. Any moment now, his father and Liam were going to come looking for him, if they weren’t already. And if they found him with Harry, he was a dead man.

Still he looked back up at Harry, his bright green eyes and his lucious brown hair. That was all it took for Niall to sigh and give in to him.

“I know you’re confused about this whole life you have in front of you,” Harry started, the words not coming out exactly as he wanted them to. He hadn’t rehearsed this or anything. He knew how he felt, he just didn’t know how to put it into words.. 

Niall just crossed his arms protectively over his chest, staring at Harry. He didn’t really know what to say. Of course he was confused. And there wasn’t much Harry could do about it.

“But last night when you weren’t at the party all I could think about was you, and how you weren’t there and how you should have been there. You don’t belong up here, Niall,” Harry sighed, running his hand through his thick mop of curls. “People like this suck the life out of people like you.”

“I _am_ people like this,” Niall said seriously, giving Harry a look and then looking back again to make sure his father and Liam weren’t around.

“You aren’t,” Harry waved his hand harshly in the air, trying to make his point. “They’ve got you trapped thinking that you’re like them, but you aren’t. I’ve seen it, I wouldn’t be standing here with you if I didn’t think you were special. If I didn’t think you were amazing,” Harry whispered, gingerly touching Niall’s cheek with his hand.

Niall sighed, closing his eyes and allowing himself to enjoy Harry’s touch for just a moment.

“It’s your life,” Harry continued, still speaking softly, still touching the pale skin of Niall’s face. “You should be able to live it how you want.”

Niall swallowed. Everything that Harry was saying made sense, but he couldn’t. He just couldn’t up and leave everything he’d worked so hard for up to that point to run off with a boy he’d just met, for a future that was uncertain. Even if he didn’t particularly like his fate, at least he knew where his next meal was coming from and that he’d have a roof over his head every night.

“I can’t,” Niall shook his head, his voice nearly cracking before he got up to leave. “I have to go.”

Harry just sighed with frustration as Niall scurried off. If he hadn’t gotten through to him with that, he didn’t think he was ever going to.

* * *

“And what will you be having, sir?”

Niall was brought back down to earth as the waiter leaned down next to him. He glanced around the table, and sure enough his father’s eyes were fixated on him. 

It was only lunch time, and already Niall was bored. As they sat on their private promenade deck with a few other select people, Niall continued to replay his conversation with Harry over and over in his head.

“Lamb,” Niall answered the waiter, not overly concerned with what he was going to eat for lunch. 

He continued to sit quietly, staring down at the white tablecloth and the array of cutlery in front of him. The conversation at the table ran together in his head. It was all just background noise as his thoughts focused on Harry.

His food tasted bland, like cement in his mouth, but he forced it down, feeling sick to his stomach with every bite.

And eventually he made it back to his room, laying down on the couch of the sitting area and staring up at the ceiling. The chandelier hovered above him. It was exquisite and lavish and everything that Niall deemed unnecessary.

The walls, the bathroom, the carpet. The pillows on the couch and the warm sheets of his bed. He even opened his closet, only to find the same trousers and shirts he’d been wearing his whole life.

That was what he was working so hard to keep? This was what he was throwing away his fleeting chance at happiness for? For what? A whole bunch of shit he didn’t care about anyway.

Harry was absolutely right and now all Niall had to do was find him.

* * *

Finding Harry proved to be a harder task than Niall had thought. First he walked around the Boat Deck, but then he quickly realised he wouldn’t be around there.

Then he went up to the bow of the ship, thinking Harry might be there watching the ocean and the sky and their sea of possibilities. But no, he wasn’t there either.

Niall sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets as he made his way down to the steerage area. The sun was beginning to set and he was likely supposed to be at dinner, but he didn’t care. He was already set on finding Harry and being with him anyway - missing dinner was going to be the least of his father’s concerns.

Finally Niall spotted him sitting on a bench in the third class dining area finishing off the last of his meal.

Niall pushed his way through the crowd, ignoring the looks he was getting from all of the other people. 

“Harry,” he said, tapping him on the shoulder.

Harry spun around, looking at Niall and then standing up.

“What?” Louis spat, looking up at Niall. “The food in first class not good enough for you?”

Harry rolled his eyes, choosing to ignore Louis while Niall gave him a bit of a look. “You came back,” was all he said, still not quite believing that Niall was standing in front of him. Perhaps he had gotten through to him after all.

Niall just shrugged, giving Harry a bit of a smirk. “I didn’t think I could take another meal having to force down caviar and red wine.”

Harry was so happy he could have kissed Niall square on the mouth. But instead, he refrained.

It looked like Niall had another idea anyway. “Let’s go up to my stayroom,” he said, pulling Harry close. 

Harry just nodded as he took Niall’s hand and followed him out of the dining hall and up the decks until they finally reached Niall’s room.

Niall pushed Harry against the door, kissing him softly before opening it. He pulled away, blushing a little bit before letting them both inside.

“This isn’t me, Harry,” Niall said softly, glancing around the room that he and Harry were both standing in. “I’m not this fancy person,” he leaned down, untying his shoes and kicking them off. “I’m not all of this lavish bullshit,” he pulled off his coat and threw it to the ground, briskly unbuttoning his white shirt next.

Harry was so stunned he could hardly move. He just sat there on the couch watching Niall as he discarded his clothing, lamenting about how none of his surroundings actually reflected him as a person.

“This isn’t me,” Niall said finally pulling down his trousers and stepping out of them. His hands shook as his fingers touched the waistband of his underwear. “I’m just a boy,” he said, finally pulling them off and letting them fall to the ground as he stood completely nude in front of Harry. “This life doesn’t define me.”

If Harry had been stunned before, there was no word to describe what he was feeling. He couldn’t stop staring at Niall from his creamy skin to every dip and curve. He gulped as his eyes roamed Niall’s entire body, not believing what he was seeing.

“You must think I’m mad,” Niall sort of laughed after a moment.

Harry violently shook his head. “No,” he said finally as Niall stepped towards him. He reached out and pulled Niall down onto the couch beside him, looking straight into his eyes. “I think this is exactly what I love about you.”

Niall sighed, closing his eyes and leaning in to kiss Harry. But instead of meeting his lips, Harry leaned down and pecked little kisses on the top of Niall’s shoulder. Niall hummed softly, leaning his head against the top of Harry’s as he did this, his heart beating faster and - 

There was an obtrusive knock at the door.

“Fuck,” Niall groaned, leaning his head into Harry’s chest. “They’re supposed to be at dinner.”

“Shh,” Harry whispered softly, kissing the top of Niall’s head. “Maybe they’ll go away.”

But they didn’t. The knocking continued along with the pounding of Niall’s heart in his chest. If it was his father he was going to kill him. And not that he overly cared because he’d made his decision without regret. But Niall still wasn’t looking forward to having any sort of big confrontation.

“Sir?” came Liam’s meek voice through the door. “It’s only me.”

Niall breathed a sigh of relief, looking at Harry and standing up. He walked over to his bedroom and pulled on his black robe before returning to answer the door.

He only opened it a crack.

“Hi Liam,” he said irritably. “I’m busy.”

“Your father has requested that I come to fetch you for dinner. He came by earlier and you weren’t here, much to his dismay,” Liam said. His lips were pressed together but Niall could tell that he was somewhat concerned.

“Yeah,” Niall said shortly. “That’s because I wasn’t.”

“You aren’t to go anywhere-”

“I know,” Niall interrupted him, getting annoyed. “I know but look Liam, I’m not going to dinner and you can tell my father that. Tell him you couldn’t find me. I’m not going.”

Liam sighed, looking down at the ground in defeat. Then he looked back up at Niall, only the nervous twitch of his lip giving away his reluctance. “If that’s to be believeable, I suggest you not be here because he might come looking.”

Niall nodded his head, giving Liam a grateful look. “Yeah, alright, thank you Liam,” he sighed as Liam walked off. Then he looked back at Harry.

Harry just smiled, standing up and walking towards Niall. He wrapped his arms around him, kissing him softly before letting go. “I know somewhere we can go,” he said. “But you’ll have to put your clothes back on.”

Niall laughed, nodding his head. Yeah, he’d do anything if it meant getting a free pass to spend the evening with Harry. He’d deal with the ramifications of his decisions later.

* * *

“How’d you find this?” Niall asked, glancing around. Harry had led him all the way to what appeared to the the very ground floor of the ship. There were crates and luggage everywhere, and a few small cars parked as well.

Harry just shrugged as he walked with his hands in his pockets. “Just found it when I was wandering around on the day I boarded the ship.”

Niall squinted his eyes and shook his head as he followed behind Harry. Imagine that - just wandering around the ship and stumbling upon the cargo hold. “Sort of like how I found you,” Niall said, offering Harry a cheeky gin when he turned around.

“Found you first,” Harry said with a smile as he stopped in front of one of the cars. 

“What?” Niall was back to squinting and looking confused.

“Yeah,” Harry said, leaning against the side of the car and crossing his arms over his chest. “Saw you boarding the ship.”

“Hmm,” Niall leaned in as though he was going to kiss Harry, but instead of brushing their lips together, he cocked his head to the side and nodded towards the door.

“Oh yes of course,” Harry laughed slightly, standing up and opening the door. He motioned for Niall to sit down in the backseat.

“Thank you,” Niall smirked, sitting down and taking in the atmosphere. The musky scent of the leather seats and the dark black colour of the interior.

Harry closed the back door and went to climb into the front seat. 

“What’re you doing?” Niall asked him, straining his neck to the front of the car. 

“Driving?” Harry asked, grinning as he looked back at Niall. 

“Well, yeah,” Niall chuckled. He tried not to blush, honest to god he did, but he failed and felt his cheeks turn pink.

Harry nodding his head, obliging as he climbed into the back seat next to Niall. He looked down at him, reaching up and stroking his hair.

Niall stared up into Harry’s eyes as his focus was elsewhere. He felt his heart speed up in his chest, beating hard with anticipation.

“Harry,” he said softly, first kissing him on the cheek and then moving down to his lips.

Kissing Harry was easier this time. He didn’t need any alcohol or adrenaline to encourage him. For christ’s sake he didn’t even need an actual room. The backseat of this car in the cargo hold of the ship was all he needed, and hell, the floor would have been fine too. 

Harry’s lips were sinful. Plump and warm and they moved against his own in perfect rhythm. Like they were two puzzle pieces that had been lost until this moment.

Niall moaned against Harry’s mouth as he felt his hand slip down to his crotch, palming him through his slacks. He swallowed, opening his eyes and looking at Harry. “I,” he started, shifting over so he could touch Harry as well.

“Shh,” Harry whispered, kissing Niall once more before pulling away slightly. “Let me, yeah?”

Niall just nodded because he didn’t know what else to say. His head was spinning and Harry was still just rubbing his erection through the fabric. His breath hitched in his through as they continued to kiss, all the while with Harry touching him painfully slowly. 

But Harry obviously knew what he was doing. After what seemed like an eternity he pulled away, leaning his head down and unzipping Niall’s fly. Niall kissed Harry on the forehead as he did this, burying his face in Harry’s curls and closing his eyes.

“Shuffle down,” Harry whispered softly, tugging of the waist of his slacks. Niall nodded, lifting his hips up so Harry could pull down his trousers and pants. Harry pulled away from Niall, looking up at him. He licked his lips and nodded, as if to ask if this was all right.

Niall nodded eagerly, sliding back against the door of the car so Harry would have more room. Harry shuffled downwards, wasting no time as he placed his mouth on the head of his prick.

Niall leaned his head back and bit his bottom lip. When he’d met Harry that first day he never imagined he’d be spending the evening with him with his trousers around his ankles and Harry’s lips around his cock. 

Harry took Niall’s entire length with ease, bobbing his head up and down. He was slow at first, letting the saliva collect around it as it slipped in and out of his mouth easily. It took everything Niall had to not thrust his hips upwards because it felt so fucking good.

His eyes were closed and he didn’t even notice the windows of the car start to fog up. He wouldn’t have been all too surprised, given how heavily he was breathing. Beads of sweat started to collect on his forehead. “Ugh, Harry,” he moaned involuntarily. 

Harry moved his head upwards, focusing now just on the tip. He swirled his tongue around it, and used his hand on the base.

The combined sensation of Harry’s hand pumping his cock and his warm mouth on the tip was enough to send shocks of pleasure throughout Niall’s whole body. “Ugh,” he groaned, reaching upwards. There was no space in the car and his sweaty hands hit the fogged up window, trying to find purchase in its smooth surface. When finally, he came in Harry’s mouth, and his hand fell lifeless back to his side, leaving a trail of his handprint.

And Harry was perfect, licking up all of the mess and swallowing it with ease, before looking up at Niall. Niall was an absolute wreck of course. He was panting hard and his chest was heaving with every breath.

“Oh god,” he finally managed to get out. He was still breathing heavily, but he leaned down to kiss Harry not really giving a shit about where his mouth had been. “Your turn,” he said, pulling away and grinning as he shuffled on top of Harry.

Harry sighed, leaning back in the very same spot Niall had been moments ago. He let his hands play with Niall’s hair, messing up his perfect style as Niall unzipped his fly.

Niall gulped because he’d never actually seen another man’s dick before, much less ever sucked on one. But one look up at Harry’s flushed face and it was enough of an encouragement. He took a deep breath before tentatively licking the underside of Harry’s already erect cock.

He wrapped his hand around the base, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to take Harry’s whole length. He had a horrible gag reflex as it was without a cock shoved down his throat. 

He pumped it slowly, sucking on the head just as Harry had done to him. He looked up, straining his eyes to try and see Harry.

Harry just nodded down at him as he leaned his head back again and sighed. Niall took this as a sign to keep going, so he squeezed his hand tighter and kept flicking his tongue.

“Yeah,” Harry moaned. “Keep going...”

Niall pumped his hand faster, trying to keep up a rhythm with his mouth. Harry’s hands gripped his hair tighter until he finally sighed.

Niall tried not to gag as Harry came in his mouth. He breathed through his nose, licking all of it up, swallowing and wiping his mouth when he finally sat up.

“That was...” Harry sighed, looking down at Niall.

“It was alright, then?” Niall asked, looking at Harry with a bit of worry.

“It was amazing,” Harry affirmed, sighing again and pulling Niall down onto his chest. The two of them were a sweaty mess, clinging together inside the muggy car.

They laid there like that for a bit, neither one of them feeling the need to speak. Niall breathed softly as Harry continued to play with his hair. He was certain he was a right mess now, but he didn’t care. Nothing mattered to him as long as he and Harry were together.

“Niall,” Harry said slowly. “I need a bit of fresh air.”

“Yeh,” Niall agreed, even though he didn’t really want to move. But it was a bit too warm in the car.

They two of them pulled their clothes back on, stepping out of the car and giggling to each other as they walked away from the fogged up windows. Harry grabbed onto Niall’s hand, looking back at him lovingly as they made their way back up to the Boat Deck.

They exited from a door right near the bow of the ship. It was dark now, the sky completely black and dotted with a scatter of white stars. But Niall and Harry didn’t notice any of this as they sighed, far too engrossed in each other. The chilly night air a nice change against their sticky skin.

Niall sighed, his breath appearing in front of his face.

“I’ll warm you up,” Harry grinned, leaning in and kissing Niall softly. It was only supposed to be a peck, but it turned into more. Niall leaned into the kiss, licking Harry’s lips and enjoying the rush that surged through his system when he was with him.

He’d never felt more alive.

He pulled away from Harry, smiling softly as he looked up at him. “I’m not doing it,” he said slowly, as though vocalising it made it real. “I’m not going to work in the business. ‘M going with you instead.”

Harry sighed, a smile creeping up on his face. He never actually thought that Niall would throw his entire life away on a whim. But that life wasn’t worth much if he didn’t love living it. “You sure?” he asked cautiously.

“Never been more sure of anything in my life,” Niall nodded his head, leaning in and kissing Harry again. He didn’t care who saw - in fact, the more people who saw, the better. Maybe his father would disown him and make this entire plan easier.

Without warning, the ship gave a shudder from underneath their feet causing them to break their kiss and look down. Harry and Niall shared a confused look as they glanced around, trying to figure out what the source of rumbling was.

Straight out in front of them was an iceberg, floating nonchalantly in the ocean. The ship was obviously turning and trying to avoid it, but it couldn’t.

It scraped the right hand side, causing the ship to shake even more violently. Harry and Niall couldn’t stop gaping at it as it passed them by, making as awful creaking noise as it broke apart against the side.

“Shit,” Harry breathed, jumping back and pulling Niall with him as chunks of ice hit the railings and broke off onto the deck like pieces of hail.

They clung to each other, watching as the ship moved past the chunk of white ice, eventually leaving it behind.

“What the fuck was that?” Niall breathed as he and Harry let go of each other and walked towards the railing of the ship. They peered over trying to get another look, but the iceberg was fading fast off into the distance already.

“I don’t know,” Harry muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets and looking at Niall with concern. “It sounded bad.”

“Yeh,” Niall said, glancing back out to where the iceberg was now completely out of sight. “I suppose we should,” he paused, sighing and scratching the back of his head. He didn’t really want to go back to his room, but he figured that whatever the situation was his father deserved to know about it. Or at least Liam did. 

Harry nodded a little a Niall, widening his eyes a bit and motioning for him to continue.

“Suppose we should go tell m’father and Liam, then,” Niall muttered, looking down at his feet. He was probably just being overly paranoid. This couldn’t be that bad, could it?

He glanced around, the crew was starting to filter onto the bow of the ship and they were speaking in hushed tones, pointing over to where the incident took place. Yeah, it was probably pretty serious.

Harry nodded, glancing over at the crew members that Niall was looking at. “All right.”

That didn’t stop Niall from grabbing Harry’s hand as they briskly walked back through the boat deck and over to the parlour area where Niall was sure his father would be.There was a lot of activity in the halls - crew members and maids walking around looking concerned.

Niall looked back at Harry, his eyebrows furrowed. 

Harry pressed his lips together, not knowing what to say. 

They turned the hallway where Niall’s room was and what they saw wasn’t what they expected. The door was wide open. Niall looked back at Harry again, this time taking a deep breath and squeezing his hand before they walked inside.

Sitting on the couch was Bobby Horan, along with a couple of crew members who Niall didn’t know and Liam, standing off in the corner looking sheepish.

“Welcome back,” Bobby said as soon as Niall and Harry entered the room.

“Thank you,” Niall said slowly, looking around. “Is this about the incident?” he asked, glancing at the crew members. There had been a lot of them around already, bustling about and clearly trying to figure out what had happened with the iceberg.

“Indeed it is,” Bobby said roughly, standing up from his seat on the couch. “He’s the one who assaulted my son,” he pointed at Harry and the two men were quick to rush over to Harry. One of them gripped him by the shoulders while the other one held his hands behind his back.

“What?” Niall nearly shouted. “He did no such thing!” he looked at Harry, his eyes wide as he was pulled out of the room.

“He came down to find me!” Harry shouted, and he looked at Niall with horror in his eyes, silently begging him to confirm the truth.

“Yes,” Niall said seriously, looking back at Bobby. “I went down to steerage and I brought him back up here-”

“And you let him take you down to the cargo hold and lock you in a car while you struggled to break out?” Bobby asked him, raising his eyebrow as he stared Niall down.

“I,” Niall stammered, glancing back at Harry continued to struggle against the men. “That’s not what... no.” His mouth was dry and he couldn’t form any coherent thoughts.

“I didn’t lock him in the car!” Harry shouted, but no one listened to him as he was pulled into the hallway. “He could have left anytime but it was clear he didn’t want to!”

“Yeah,” Niall said slowly, looking up at his father. His face was so hot with embarrassment he was sure it was going to burn right off. “I didn’t...”

“Take him back down to steerage,” Bobby spat, completely ignoring Niall and looking up at the men who were dragging Harry away. “I want him out of my sight.”

Niall stood there in shock for a couple of seconds before darting out of the room. “No!” he shouted, but Bobby grabbed his arm and pulled him back. 

“It’s over now,” Bobby said to hm, his grip still tight around Niall’s upper arm.

“No,” Niall sighed in defeat looking down. In all that haste, he’d almost forgotten about the iceberg. 

But the ship crew was one step ahead of him, stepping into the room and looking at Bobby, Niall and Liam. “Gentlemen, please put your life vests on and head to the boat deck.”

Bobby glanced up at him, but still didn’t let go of Niall.

“That’s what I was trying to tell you,” Niall said, glaring up at his father and finally pulling his arm away from him. “There was an iceberg.”

“This ship’s unsinkable,” Bobby said, giving the man a look. “We’re fine here, thank you.”

“I must insist,” the man said, pulling the life vests out of their storage compartment and tossing them on the couch. “Captain’s orders,” he stated, giving Bobby a look before walking out of the room.

“Rubbish,” Bobby muttered, looking over at Niall and Liam.

“It looked quite bad actually,” Niall shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. He swallowed, thinking about Harry. “You felt the rumbling, didn’t you?” he looked at Bobby and then glanced over at Liam.

Liam nodded his head slowly, glancing over at Bobby.

“All right,” Bobby said. “Suppose we’d better get up to the Boat Deck then.”

Niall breathed a bit of a sigh of relief. Things were far from better - there was obviously still the matter of the iceberg and the issue of how he was going to get back to Harry. But as he, Bobby and Liam left the stayroom he felt at least confident that he’d figure something out.

* * *

Harry was shoved onto the floor of his room and left there as the men turned around to presumably go back up to first class. He groaned, reaching up and massaging one of his sore shoulders with his hand. Surely they hadn’t needed to be so rough with him.

Especially when he hadn’t done anything wrong.

He hadn’t actually realised how rigid and Niall’s life was up until that point. Sure, Harry had known that Niall’s father was going to be unhappy with him. But he hadn’t thought he’d be unhappy to the point where he would take all of his happiness and just shove it...

Well, right back to the bottom of the ship. Which Harry couldn’t really blame him for, since that was where he was supposed to be as stated on his ticket. But he didn’t think that Niall’s father needed to be such a prick about it.

The light flicked on and another crew member entered. Harry looked back from his position on the floor.

“Everybody up, life vests on,” was all the man said, shoving the life vests down onto the floor from their resting spot atop the shelf before moving on to the next room.

“What?” Louis muttered, waking up and sitting up in his bed. He looked down at Harry. “Fancy seeing you back here. Thought you’d left us for the high class life,” he chuckled, rubbing sleep out of it eyes. “But clearly it’s quite the opposite. What’re you doing on the floor?”

“Nothing,” Harry grumbled, standing up. He eyed the life vests. Was this actually that bad of a situation? It had sounded pretty awful when he’d seen the impact, but he hadn’t thought it would be this serious. Surely this was just a precaution.

“What’s all this about then?” Louis asked, swinging his legs over the side of his bed and yawning. “Is it morning?”

“No,” Harry said, his mouth still turned down. He picked up a life vest, tossing it to Louis, before tying one onto himself.

Louis inspected it for a second before looking back up at Harry. “Have we hit something?”

“Iceberg,” Harry replied shortly. He had to figure out a way to get back up to first class and make sure Niall was all right. There was no time for him to deal with Louis right at that moment.

“Christ,” Louis whispered, rolling his eyes. He looked back down at the life vest and poked it with his finger. “You’d think they’d know how to steer. Are we going down?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well if we weren’t I doubt bother giving us these,” Louis pointed out.

Harry glared at Louis. “Will you just shut up and follow me?” he nearly shouted, growing frustrated. Louis wasn’t helping with anything and Harry was scared and he knew Niall was scared and he just wanted to be back with him so at least they could be scared together.

“All right, sorry,” Louis muttered, pulling the life vest on over his head and following Harry out of the room. The two of them looked back, seeing water seeping into the hallway.

Harry’s eyes widened and he gulped. That was definitely not good and that meant that the life vests were definitely not a precaution.

“Where’s blondie?” Louis asked after a few tense moments.

Harry rolled his eyes. He had no clue and that was the whole problem. “I have no bloody idea. As soon as this happened they pulled us apart and shoved me back down here.” It wasn’t the whole story, but it was all Louis needed to know.

“Hm,” Louis nodded, still walking towards the stairs to get up to the boat deck. They came to a loud crowding of people who were standing all on the steps and down into the hallway. “Well, he came looking for you once. Perhaps he’ll swallow his pride and come looking for you again.”

Harry nodded. He could only hope, because with the way those black gates were tightly closed he wasn’t going to be able to get up to Niall any time soon.

* * *

Niall stood around in the first class ballroom watching his father drink a brandy and laugh with John.

“This is ridiculous,” Bobby laughed, shaking his head. “Telling us to come all the way up here only to have us stand around in the ballroom.”

“Perhaps they wanted to ensure everyone was safe,” Niall said through gritted teeth. Even though it was obvious not _everyone_ on the ship was up there.

“We have parlour suite rooms,” Bobby reminded him. “They’re perfectly safe.”

“Right,” Niall scoffed, not caring that he was completely out of line. All he could think about was Harry and his below sea level room. “Don’t think the iceberg or the North Atlantic gives a shit about how expensive our room is.”

Bobby just laughed, looking at John. He patted Niall on the back. It was quite a bit harder than normal stinging Niall’s skin through his coat with every hit. “You’ll have to excuse him, he’s quite tired. Was woken up with all of this ruckus.”

Niall had to fight to roll his eyes.

“Excuse me, can I have everyone’s attention please?” 

Niall glanced up, seeing a crew member standing in the doorway of the ballroom. He recognized him as one of the men talking seriously on the bow just as the iceberg had hit, so he stood up a bit straighter and listened carefully to what he had to say. 

“Right, we’re ready to start loading people into lifeboats. At this time I will require only women and children please. Thank you.”

Niall furrowed his eyebrows. _Lifeboats_? This was obviously worse than he’d figured. 

“The ship’s sinking,” he muttered to no one but himself as it dawned on him.

“Suppose in we’re in for a bit of a wait,” Bobby said, looking at John.

John sighed. “We should try to go up there now. I was talking to Thomas the other day, and he mentioned that there aren’t enough boats for everyone aboard by about half.”

Niall looked up at John, feeling his chest tighten. That couldn’t be true. 

“Thomas, the architect?” Bobby asked, and John nodded. “Bloody hell,” he sighed, looking over at Niall and Liam. “Come on then, let’s go up there and try to get on a boat.”

Niall shook his head, following his father up onto the deck and silently hoping they wouldn’t be let on. He couldn’t get onto a boat and just abandon Harry like that. Not without knowing if he was going to be all right. 

“Any room for gentlemen?” Bobby asked, walking up to one of the crew members and chuckling like he always did when he was trying to talk business. It made Niall a bit sick to watch, but he wouldn’t let himself look away.

“Not at this time,” the man said to them. “Women and children only. First class first, second class, third class, then we’ll move on to first class men and so on,” he spoke but he wasn’t really looking at them, instead focusing on untying the rope to lower the first lifeboat.

John sighed, walking back into the ballroom. Bobby shook his head, but instead of following him, he looked down at his son. “Suppose your friend is last in line,” he said seriously, pressing his lips together.

Niall looked up at his father, feeling sick in the pit of his stomach. His father was a rigid idealistic businessman, he’d always known that. But for him to take pride in the fact that Harry was obviously going to die - moreover, taking pride in the fact that someone Niall loved was obviously going to die was too much for him.

“Fuck off,” Niall spat, backing away from his father slowly. He had to save Harry - he had to find him and dress him back in those first class clothes and get him onto a boat. 

“Niall,” Bobby warned, stepping closer to him.

“No,” Niall repeated, his chest heaving and his body pumping with adrenaline. “Don’t try to stop me, you might miss your boat,” he sneered, turning and briskly walking away from his father. He looked back because he thought he might have followed him.

But he wasn’t. Niall gulped, not allowing himself to worry about that right at the moment. He didn’t have time - he simply had to focus on finding Harry. He glanced over at the bow of the ship before turning into the hallway that would take him to the lifts. It was dipped into the water and almost completely submerged.

He drew in a shaky breath before forcing himself to continue on. As Harry had said, the ocean ahead of them was endless.

* * *

Niall walked through the familiar hallways and down the steps he’d followed to find Harry earlier that day. “Shit,” he muttered to himself as he came to the last hallway, which was rapidly filling with water.

“Shit, shit, shit,” he muttered, stepping into it. It was colder than ice as it pooled up to his ankles, soaking through his socks and into his shoes.

Niall glanced around. There was no one in sight. He supposed that was probably a good thing, even though it wasn’t really helping him find Harry. Harry couldn’t still be in his room, could he?

“Harry!” Niall shouted, only to be answered with silence. “Harry!” he tried again, desperately rushing through the hallway and trying to ignore to frigid pain in his legs.

Still nothing. “Fuck,” he muttered to himself, turning down another hallway. The water was letting up, which he figured was only a good sign. People in steerage would be trying to move as far away from the water as possible, right? It would only make sense.

“Harry!” Niall continued to shout as he rushed through the halls, looking around for someone, anyone. But there was no one to be seen. The rooms he peered into were all empty.

He sighed, walking through the halls until he felt he heard the noise of people talking. He stopped, trying his hardest to catch onto the sound. Yes, that was definitely the sound of a crowd of people.

He walked faster, almost breaking out into a run in order to follow the voices. Harry had to be over there, right? There was no other place where the steerage passengers were.

* * *

“I don’t know what to do,” Harry sighed, leaning up against the wall as he looked at Louis. “This is unbelieveable.”

“I’ve already told them off twice,” Louis said irritably, looking up at the closed gates with crew members guarding them off. “You’d think we were bloody animals.”

“Harry!” 

Harry looked to see who was calling him, shock and a bit of relief spreading across his face as he saw Niall heading towards him.

“Niall!” Harry rushed towards him, shoving his way past Louis. He pulled Niall in close, hugging him tightly and kissing him on the cheek. “What’re you doing down here?”

“Right,” Louis muttered, watching the two of them. “Standing right here you know, do I have to colour my hair blonde to get you to pay attention to me?”

Harry looked back at Louis, rolling his eyes before turning his attention to Niall.

“Couldn’t leave you,” Niall said simply. “The boats...” he started slowly, trailing off because he didn’t want to cause a panic with his information. “We have to move.”

“If you haven’t noticed, we’re trapped down here,” Louis said, giving Niall a sarcastic smirk as he nodded his head towards the closed gate.

“Right,” Niall replied, scratching his head. “But I got down here just fine.”

“That’s because you’re wearing a suit,” Louis pointed out.

But Niall just shook his head, ignoring Louis’s comments. “No,” he said seriously. “There was no gate. Just had to go through a bit of water but it’s all right. Come on.” 

He started walking back in the direction he came from, with Harry and Louis following quickly behind him. It had only been about ten minutes since Niall had left the boat deck, but the ship was obviously going down fast. The corridor Niall had come down was now filled with water, and Niall, Harry and Louis were up to their waists in it.

“A bit of water?” Louis exclaimed, shivering and looking at the two of them. “The ship’s bloody sinking.”

“Yes, thank you,” Niall replied, giving Louis an icy stare as they continued to wade through the water. “What tipped you off?”

Harry burst out laughing and Niall and Louis both stopped, looking back at him with annoyance. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “It was funny.”

Niall looked back to the stairs that he’d come down. There was water rushing down them at an alarming rate, crashing with white foam as though it was a waterfall.

He took a deep breath, pushing his way through the water that was now up to his abdomen. He tried to walk up the steps, but the force was too great. It pushed him down, causing him to let go of the grip he had on the railing and forcing him under water.

“Niall!” Harry shouted, rushing over to him and reaching down into the water, pulling Niall back up onto his feet. “You alright, mate?”

Niall shivered. He was completely drenched in the cold, salty water. It dripped from his hair down his face, but he still nodded. “Yeh, yeh,” he said. “That’s the way out.”

Harry gulped, looking up at the stairs. “Not anymore it’s not,” he shook his head, turning around. “Let’s go back. Come on.”

He pulled on Niall’s arm as the three of them rushed their way back to the congregation of people at the gate. When they returned a few people looked back at them in horror as they eyed Niall, who was completely drenched.

“Shit,” one of the women breathed as Niall shoved his way past her and through the rest of the crowd to the top of the steps.

“Open the fucking gate,” Niall said, his teeth chattering with cold and fear. 

“Sir,” the man started. “We can’t open-”

Niall gripped the weak black gate and shook it hard as he glared at the crew member. Everything he’d learned his whole life about being proper and polite and a stoic gentleman really wasn’t going to help him when ocean water was pouring through the halls threatening to drown every single person who was trapped there. 

“The ship is fucking sinking!” he shouted, shaking the gate and keeping his eyes fixated on the man. “Open the bloody gate before all of us drown to death. Do you see me?!” he continued to shout, motioning to his wet clothes that were clinging to his body. “There is no other way out and the water isn’t very forgiving!” 

“Sir-”

“Niall!” Harry shouted, and Niall looked back.

Harry, Louis and a few other men were standing there holding a bench they’d clearly just ripped out of the floor. 

“Kindly move aside, yeah?” Harry asked, nodding at Niall.

Niall was too stunned to say anything. As usual, Harry was a lot more resourceful than he was. He nodded his head. “Right, yeah,” he muttered, moving out of the way right before Harry and the others shoved the bench against the gate a few times, finally breaking it and allowing everyone through.

Niall laughed. He actually laughed because he was so grateful that they were going to be able to get through and back up to his room to get Harry some clothes and save him. 

The crew member was still shouting as everyone climbed over the bench and through to the corridor. Niall rolled his eyes as he followed Harry and Louis through the opening, glancing back at the man.

He didn’t even think twice before punching him in the face and knocking him out.

Harry snorted, looking back at Niall and grabbing his hand before they continued to rush up the steps. They ran as fast as they could trying to make their way through the crowd.

The first class area was even worse, filled with loads more people either not realising the gravity of the situation or simply standing inside wanting to warm up. Niall turned to go down the hallway to his room, instead of up to the boat deck because there was no way they were going to let Harry and Louis on the boats looking how they did.

“Right,” Louis said, his eye wide as he looked at the sheer number of people. “I’m off to find a boat,” he said, rushing off up to the boat deck.

“Louis!” Harry shouted after him, but it was too late, Louis was already lost in the sea of people. He glanced back at Niall. “We need to-”

“We can’t,” Niall hissed quietly, looking at Harry intensely. “There aren’t enough boats and they’re letting first class on first.”

“What?” Harry asked, narrowing his eyebrows at Niall.

“Not enough by half,” Niall whispered as he pulled Harry down the hall and towards his room. 

They stepped inside and Niall darted into his bedroom and pulled open his closet, looking for some clothes that might fit Harry before his eyes landed on a suit that had been just a bit too big on him. 

He tossed it at Harry, motioning for him to put it on quickly. And Harry did, changing as fast as he could. The shirt fit him no problem, but when he tried to button up the trousers he looked at Niall. “They won’t close,” he said.

Niall walked over to him, gripping his hands on the waist. Why did he have to be so bloody small? “Fuck,” he growled, ripping at the waist in an attempt to make it a bit wider. “Now?”

Harry reached down, buttoning them up. They were still tight, but at least they were on. He shrugged his shoulders and tried to pull on the suit jacket, which was far too small.

“Shit,” Niall said, bouncing on his feet. “Just... just wait here,” he said, leaving the room and walking across the hall to Liam’s. The door was shut, but that didn’t matter to Niall. He shoved himself against it, trying to break it open. It budged, but not by much.

“Arghh!” Niall shouted, running at the door and shoving his entire weight against it. It broke open that time, and Niall wasted no time in grabbing a suit jacket and bringing it back to Harry.

“Here,” Niall said, tossing the jacket to Harry. “Put that on. Let’s move.”

Harry nodded, pulling the jacket on and following Niall up to the boat deck. They glanced around.

“There aren’t many left,” Niall said, panic starting to creep up into his voice. “And-”

“NIALL!”

Niall turned around, looking over at a boat not far from him that his father was on. He shook his head, looking away. “Maybe on the other side,” Niall muttered, trying to walk past Harry.

But Harry placed his hand on Niall’s chest, shaking his head a little. Niall sighed, but he supposed Harry was right. Even without saying anything, Harry was right. At the very least, maybe this would be their ticket onto a boat. 

They walked over to the edge of the deck where the boat was about to be lowered.

“That’s my son,” Bobby said to the crew member manning the lifeboat. “The blonde one,” he added with a touch of disdain in his voice. “Let him on the boat.”

“I’m not going without Harry,” Niall said sharply, linking his arm with Harry’s.

Harry just pressed his lips together, looking at Bobby and silently pleading to just be let onto the lifeboat.

“Sir, there’s no more room on the boat. We’re leaving, lower away.”

“No,” Bobby said, standing up and looking at Niall desperately. “Then give him my spot.”

“I’m not going without Harry,” Niall stressed again, glaring at his father. He had to admit, he felt a pang of something when his father looked at him like he actually cared.

“Niall,” Harry said seriously, gripping him by the shoulders. “You have to go. Get on the boat.”

“No,” Niall shook his head. “I can’t, I’m not leaving unless I know you’re all right.”

“I’m alright,” Harry nodded as he glanced over and noticed Bobby stepping off of the lifeboat and back onto the ship. “And I’ll be better if you just get on the boat. _Please_.”

Niall gulped, looking over at the lifeboat, then at his father who was being helped back onto the ship. Then he looked at Harry, his bright green eyes full of concern and determination.

He swallowed, leaning in and kissing Harry on the mouth. He savoured the taste of his lips on his own before he was pulled away from him by a crew member and shoved onto the lifeboat.

He looked up at Harry as the lifeboat was lowered. A lump started to rise in his throat, but he wouldn’t let himself cry. Harry just watched him, nodding his head slightly as if to reassure Niall that he would be alright. Niall nodded back at him, affirming that he would be too. Of course, that promise was a lot more certain than Harry’s given he was no longer stuck on a sinking ship.

He glanced around at the other people on the lifeboat, children crying to the right of him. He glanced back up at the ship, people still fighting their way to one of the two boats that were left on that side. He looked up, noticing a boat being pulled from the upper level and supported by oars.

It was bloody disgusting and unfair. Niall gave Harry one last look and affirming nod before he had to look away, choosing to look down at his feet instead of the sinking ship or the uncertain ocean out in front of him.

Harry sighed, watching as Niall’s lifeboat was lowered into the water. He could only see the top of Niall’s blonde head, and figured that staring at him would no longer do him any good. He had to make good on his promise - he had to survive.

He turned to Bobby, who was also watching as Niall’s boat began to float away. “That was a good thing you did for him,” he said, trying to make peace with this man who hated him for no other reason other than the fact that his son loved him. 

Bobby just nodded, still looking down at the boat. “He’s a good lad.”

Harry nodded. At least they agreed on something. “The best.”

Bobby looked up at him and narrowed his eyes as he stepped closer to Harry. “Not that you’ll ever get the chance to see him again.”

“What?”

But Bobby didn’t answer. The last thing that Harry remembered before everything went black was Bobby’s fist connecting with his temple.

* * *

Harry didn’t know how long he had been out, but he woke up to water seeping through his clothes. “Shit,” he muttered, opening his eyes.

The screams and cries around him were drowned out by the ringing in his head, but he forced himself up. The other two boats that were being lowered were gone. He glanced up - the boat that was being pulled down from the upper deck appeared to be gone as well.

“Fuck,” Harry muttered, holding his head. His vision was sort of blurred still, but he had to find a boat and get on it. 

He walked through the crew quarters despite being shouted at. On the other side, there was one of the lifeboats from the top deck being pushed off the side of the ship and into the water. Harry groaned, the pain in his head searing and his vision becoming more blurred. But he rushed over to it, fighting his way through the crowd of people and helping to push the boat into the water.

Water splashed up, soaking the front of his shirt as he pushed. He couldn’t even hear what was going on around him as he pushed and struggled to keep his consciousness. He fell over, shivering on account of the water and draping himself over the boat.

“Please,” he muttered as people shouted all around him, even though he wasn’t quite sure what he was begging for. Likely to be let onto to the boat when it finally made it safely into the water and away from the sinking ship. 

He couldn’t move and his eyes started to shut as the cold water forced its way onto him in between the lifeboat and the ship. “No,” he muttered as he felt someone pulling on the back of his jacket.

But it was futile, because just like that he was out again.

* * *

It was eerily quiet on the lifeboat, and all Niall could do was sit and wait.

He looked up at the ship at one point, and it was at exactly the wrong moment. There were faint screams in the distance as the lights went out on the Titanic. Niall choked back a sob as he bit his lip. The ship was perfectly diagonal in the water.

He’d never been one for prayer, sure he went to church but he’d never thought about it much. But at that moment all he could do was stare at the ship and pray that Harry was all right. Pray that he made it onto a boat and was safe from the disaster that was in front of him.

“God almighty,” he whispered to himself, watching as the ship cracked in half. 

He shivered and his body shook, but it had nothing to do with the ice cold air that surrounded him. Harry and Louis and Liam and hell, even his father could still be on the ship and if they were there was no hope for them now.

Niall gulped, watching as the stern of the ship started to rise up again, until finally descending into the depths of the ocean.

“Oh god,” he choked out once the ship was gone, leaning over the side of the boat and throwing up. 

He felt a hand on his back, rubbing it in small circles. He swallowed, looking back and seeing a woman offering him a comforting smile.

“It’s alright,” she said to him. “I’m sure he’s alright.”

Niall nodded his head. He couldn’t hold it in anymore as tears pooled in his eyes, spilling over into sobs as he reached out and clung to this random stranger. He held onto her for comfort, quietly sobbing as she wrapped her arms around him.

* * *

**April 15, 1912**

Niall clutched a mug of tea in his hands as he stared at the ground. He was given a stayroom of his own based on the level he’d had on Titanic, and was also given a change of clothes that was graciously donated to him by a passenger on Carpathia.

He’d been in that lifeboat for what had seemed like hours. The sun had been rising when he’d finally boarded Carpathia, colouring the sky from its bleak darkness to a blushing pink and orange.

He was quiet, not saying much of a word as he gave his name to the officer on the ship and was escorted off to the room. 

They’d offered him soup, tea, brandy, wine... nothing that he actually wanted. But they kept insisting, not leaving him alone until he finally settled on a mug of tea. Not that he planned on drinking it, but at least it was keeping his hands warm.

His stomach was in knots and he didn’t think his eyes were capable of shedding any more tears. He just stared into his tea and waited.

He didn’t know what he was waiting for, really. To arrive in New York, he supposed. He didn’t know what he was going to do when he got there, given his father clearly hadn’t survived. If he had, Niall was sure he’d have been told by now and likely have been put in the same stayroom. He didn’t know about Liam either, but he figured the situation was the same. He had no clue what had become of him as he hadn’t seen him when he’d gotten on the lifeboat.

Niall took a small sip of tea as he thought about that, feeling tears start to sting in his eyes again. His father had sacrificed his life for him, even after all that shit he’d put him through on the boat. Niall gulped, trying to remind himself that he couldn’t have known that was going to happen and even if he’d been a bit unreasonable with how he’d gone about it, it wasn’t wrong for him to want to be happy.

Which of course, brought him to Harry. A couple of stray tears rolled down Niall’s face and he had to remind himself that he didn’t know yet. There was no way he could - they were still loading people onto the ship when he’d boarded and as far as he knew they hadn’t finished yet. When he’d given his name he’d asked about Harry, and he’d been told that the list wasn’t complete. He could find out later. Ask again when they were on their way.

Niall took another small sip of his tea and set it down on his bedside table. He laid down in the bed, looking around the small room before closing his eyes.

“Harry,” he muttered to himself before taking a deep breath and trying to get some sleep. “You promised.”

* * *

Niall awoke a few hours later to the ship rumbling underneath him. He sat straight up in bed. It was awfully similar to the feeling he’d had when Titanic had hit the iceberg. But he quickly took a deep breath and calmed down. As he glanced out the window, it was clear that the ship was simply moving ahead.

Niall ran a hand through his hair, getting up and stepping out of his room. He walked down the hall in search of someone who could get him a passenger list.

He nearly crashed into a maid who was walking through the halls.

“Good morning sir,” she said brightly. “Can I get you anything?”

Niall was speechless, but quickly regained his composure. “Yes,” he nodded his head feverishly. “A passenger list would be nice.”

She looked at him sadly. “I’m sorry sir, it’s still being compiled.”

Niall sighed, feeling frantic. He didn’t think he could wait any longer to find out if Harry...no. Just to find Harry. Because he was sure that Harry had survived. He had to have survived. “Do you know where steerage is?” he asked her.

She gave him a bit of a confused look, but pointed down the hall and gave him a few directions that would lead him on his way.

“Thank you,” Niall nodded to her before rushing off.

Steerage was just a conglomerate of people on the boat deck sitting with blankets and tea all cramped together with no personal space. Niall gulped as he walked down the steps, looking around for that familiar mess of brown curls.

He was nowhere to be found. Niall walked slowly around the entire boat deck looking at every single person and trying to find Harry. He looked for Louis too, but he was also nowhere to be seen.

“Sir,” a crew member came up to Niall after a little while. “Can I help you? This is the steerage area.”

“Yeh,” Niall said, still glancing around. “Do you have a passenger list? I’m looking for... a friend,” he finally settled on, because explaining the entire thing would take far too much time.

The man nodded, pulling out a piece of paper. “It’s not complete yet, but who are you looking for?”

“Harry Styles,” Niall said quickly, glancing at the paper. 

The man looked over the paper and sadly shook his head. “I’m sorry-”

“Harold Styles,” Niall tried again, looking back down at the paper.

“I’m sorry, he’s not on this list,” the man said regretfully.

“So there’s another list?” Niall asked, getting desperate.

The man pressed his lips together and shook his head.

“Another ship perhaps?” Niall asked, unable to give up.

“Sir, as far as I’m aware we are the only ship to have picked up survivors.”

Niall gulped and nodded his head. “Right,” he said blinking back tears and trying to smile at the man. “Thank you.”

The man nodded sadly at him and walked away. Niall took a final glance around the steerage area looking for any familiar face, but there were none to be found. It appeared as though he was on the ship alone.

* * *

**April 18, 1912**

Carpathia docked in New York amidst pouring rain. It had been a torturous three days for Niall, walking around the ship searching for Harry in the steerage and even second class areas. He’d even looked as much as he could in first class, wondering if his plan of dressing Harry up had worked too well, but he always came up blank.

Niall brushed his wet hair out of his face as he waited to disembark. He was close to the front of the line, wanting to leave all of this behind him as fast as he possibly could.

He glanced up at the Statue of Liberty and smiled a little to himself. All things considered, he was damn lucky to have survived. And he was going to take that second chance and live a life worth living. He wasn’t going to let Harry die in vain - not after how he’d changed his life and shown him what truly living could be like. He wasn’t quite sure yet what he was going to do in New York, but once thing was for certain - he wasn’t planning on trading a single stock.

* * *

**April 22, 1912**

Niall sighed to himself as he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked along the streets. After a night of sleeping on the pavement, he’d wandered into a pub and had asked for a job. It was nothing like what he’d ever done before and the pay was shit, but it was a job. And it actually wasn’t a half bad one. Niall had always been chatty and he enjoyed talking to the patrons. A lot of them found his accent charming, which he found amusing and often used to his advantage for tips.

He smiled, looking down at his feet as he wandered around. When he wasn’t at work, he didn’t really have much to do. He stayed in a shitty room in the pub, so it wasn’t like he had a home to go to. But that was alright. It wasn’t so bad, all things considered. In fact, it was better than what he thought his life was going to be like.

He looked up at the sky, smiling at the clear blue day.

_“And it's all for me grog, me jolly jolly grog...”_

Niall shook his head, thinking he was hearing Harry’s voice. But that was absurd, and it was clearly just in his head. After all, he’d been thinking about Harry nonstop ever since he’d met him.

_“All for me beer and tobacco...”_

Niall glanced around. That time he was certain he’d heard it and that it wasn’t just a distant memory in his head. There was an open door to a pub a few feet down. Niall walked briskly towards it, his heart pounding in his chest. It couldn’t be, it just couldn’t be. Harry hadn’t survived - he was nowhere to be found on the ship! Niall took a breath, knowing he was just getting himself worked up over nothing. He was setting himself up for disappointment.

He stepped into the doorway of the pub. His breath caught in his throat and his heart leaped into his chest.

_“For I spent all me tin on lassies drinkin' gin. Across the Western ocean I must wander...”_ There was Harry, belting out the last lines of the song with a wide grin spread across his face. Just as he’d had when Niall had seen him that first night.

Niall’s mouth hung open as he rushed into the pub and towards the stage.

Harry was grinning, but the moment he made eye contact with Niall rushing towards him his expression turned to shock. “Niall?” he asked as he stepped off the stage.

Niall didn’t say anything, throwing his arms around Harry and kissing him on the mouth. He didn’t give a shit that people were watching them and probably heckling them. He could hardly hear anything over the pure bliss that he was feeling.

Tears stung in his eyes when he pulled away, but this time they were different. “I thought...” Niall stammered, not able to pull his eyes away from Harry’s gaze. “I couldn’t find you on the ship.”

Harry laughed a little, scratching his head. “Yeah,” he shrugged, the grin returning to his face and tears brimming in his own eyes. “I was knocked out and someone pulled me onto a lifeboat. Was out of it for a while, actually. Kept in the Infirmary on the ship, they didn’t even know my name after it docked.”

“Until after I stopped asking,” Niall whispered, still staring at Harry.

“I never thought I’d find you,” Harry said, pulling Niall close to him again. “I’ve been looking, but it’s such a big city. Even went over to the Upper East Side,” he laughed a bit sheepishly. 

Niall gulped, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. “I work in McSorley’s,” he said, his voice wavering. “It’s a pub.”

Harry searched Niall’s face, his eyebrows furrowing a little. “You didn’t go work in the business,” he said, smiling and touching Niall’s face. He almost couldn’t believe he was standing there. He’d known he’d survived, but he didn’t think he had a hope in hell of finding him.

Niall shook his head, a soft smile on his face. “No.”

“But,” Harry said slowly. “Your father?” he asked cautiously.

“Um,” Niall swallowed, his mouth turning downwards a little. “No.”

Harry nodded sadly, rubbing Niall’s shoulder. He didn’t care to get into the specifics of what had actually gone down on the ship. Better to let Niall’s last memory of his father be a good one.

“And Louis?” Niall asked, even though he was sure he already knew the answer.

Harry shook his head slowly. He’d checked the passenger list before he’d gotten off the ship. “No.”

They looked at each other solemnly for a moment, remembering all the people who hadn’t been as lucky as they were. 

“Oh God,” Niall said finally, relief washing over him as he hugged Harry again. It was as though a giant weight had been lifted off his shoulders. “I love you,” he whispered in Harry’s ear. 

“Hmmm,” Harry hummed as he held Niall. “I never thought I’d get to hear you say that. I love you too,” he whispered back, kissing Niall on the cheek. “And now,” he continued, pulling away from Niall slightly, “we have a sea of possibilities ahead of us.”

Niall nodded his head slowly, smiling as he stared into Harry’s eyes. “I’ll say we do,” he agreed. “Although, maybe use another metaphor.”

Harry laughed, nodding his head and kissing Niall on the mouth as he blinked away a fresh set of tears. “Absolutely.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! <3


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